Rocky Relationships?
by The Darkside Incarnate
Summary: Things have settled down for the KH gang, with Rox and Nam together, and Sora and Kairi still strong, what could go wrong? Riku of course, not to mention the mysterious new Goth Girl...[Kaiora Roxamine RikuOC Larxel onesided Kaiku] AU. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1: Silver Haired Problems

**-Rocky Relationships?-**

**_The Sequel to "Double Date?"_**

_**A Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction**_

**By: The Darkside Incarnate**

**Disclaimer: Please, If I owned Kingdom Hearts Sora and Kairi would have made out instead of "hugging". And Axel would still be alive. **

**-Chapter 1: Silver Haired Troubles-**

She's beautiful, her hair a golden sheen, her eyes as blue as the sea. Her body full of curves, her smile like a star, her skin pale. She's full of surprises; everything she says makes us connect. Namine'. The picture perfect girlfriend. I'd like to tell you that our relationship isn't easy, that we had to work at it. Well…we didn't. In fact, after some minor problems it became all too easy. It happened like this—

"Hey Roxas? Are you listening to me?" Sora asks, shattering my train of thought.

I look up at him, "Yes…well, no actually." We're at a donut shop, eating breakfast before school starts.

"Well, as I was saying, before I realized you were spacing out," he pauses, shaking his head at me before continuing, "Riku's coming back."

I choke on the donut I'm trying to swallow. "He's WHAT?"

"Coming back," Sora says, completely oblivious to the anger in my eyes, "I just found out that he's coming back from boarding school in Traverse Town. In fact, a lot of people from that school are coming _here_. There's this rumor that someone got murdered on the grounds—"

"Yeah right!"

He glares at me.

"Sorry, won't interrupt again."

"Right…" he stares at me, disbelief clear on his face. "Again, AS I WAS SAYING, apparently a bunch of people from that school decided that they needed to come back here. And Riku's heading back too, isn't it great!"

"Yeah great…" okay, keep this between us, this is a strict secret: I don't like Riku. My hate for the silver haired brat started a few weeks after I first came to the Islands. Riku was Sora's best friend back in the day. But when I came he felt a little left out. So he started to annoy the hell out of me, hoping to drive me off with his antics. Of course, SORA never noticed because SORA is completely oblivious to everything that isn't happy-go-lucky.

Just what I need, a selfish idiot in town. To top it all off he had a crush on Kairi even while Sora did. They were constantly competing for her attention.

Eventually, Kairi decided to date Riku, keeping her relationship with Sora strictly in the "friend" category. Kairi and Riku were very close, but there were times when they had fights and Kairi would confide in Sora. But they would always make up.

Until Riku moved, his family packed up and left for Traverse Town, only giving him a moments notice. The day Riku left, Kairi became immensely depressed, and Sora became her shoulder to cry on. Eventually, they wound up dating.

I'm kind of surprised that _Sora_ isn't more worried about this then I am. After all, there is the chance that Riku will snatch Kairi away from him.

But then, he lost a friend when Kairi lost a boyfriend. Maybe they'll stay together. On can only hope.

"Funny, you don't sound too enthused. What's the matter, homework over load?" Sora asks me.

"No. I'm happy, Namine' and I have gotten to spend tons of time together. And Xemnas hasn't bothered us at all." Xemnas, my other silver haired problem at the moment; is also in town. The teenager leads an "Organization" that lives to break the law. Thanks to his super rich dad he never had to suffer the consequences for his actions.

Thankfully, my friend Axel has also come from Twilight Town, to help me out with this problem. Hopefully he can help me with Riku as well.

"Kairi is great too. I haven't told her about the Riku thing yet though, I want it to be a surprise," Uh oh…

"You can't do that, Kairi will be all sad."

"No she won't…"

"Yes she will; her and Riku were close, but then he just up and left. She'll be mad at you for not telling her sooner."

"I can deal with it," he tells me confidently, "want to head to school?"

"Do I have a choice?"

Sora just shakes his head, before shouldering his backpack and heading out.

**-Namine'- **

"OH MY GOD!" I squeal, reading the email I just received a second time, to make sure that I didn't read wrong.

"What?" Kairi asks, standing up from her "meditative" position on the floor.

"Look at this!" I point at my computer screen, where a fresh email has popped up:

**From: Sakura Mohan **

**Sub: You'll never guess what happened!!!**

**CC: none**

**OMG Namine', U will never guess what's happening. They're shutting down my school! I'm going to move to The Destiny Islands where U R. And I'm going to Destiny High! And U go there 2! We're going to see each other again! I can't believe this is happening…**

"Who's Sakura?" Kairi asks, eyeing the message wearily, "who ever she is, she doesn't know how to spell. I mean, who spells you as U it's retarded…"

"It's called chat speak. And she's an old friend of mine, she used to live in Twilight Town, but she moved to Traverse to go to boarding school. And now Sakura's coming BACK!" I jump up and do a victory dance (**A/N My characters have a habit of doing that**).

"I assume this is a big deal…"

"YES, it's a big deal. We were BFF material."

"Wait…she's coming back from boarding school?"

"Yeah, this place called "Wise Academy"—"

"OH MY GOSH! That's where Riku goes!"

"Riku? _The_ Riku, the one who you used to date?" I ask, remembering the countless stories she told me about him and Sora, always competing for her attention.

"Yes, _that _Riku."

"Do you think he's coming back?" I ask, but I instantly regret it as Kairi's eyes sink, staring at her feet.

"I don't think so."

"Why not?" _Damn it Namine, _she tells herself silently, _you can never just drop anything._

"…I don't know. I just don't think…I don't think that it's meant to be." She stands up, looking down at me.

"I'm going to go to school."

"But it doesn't start for another hour—"I'm cut off as Kairi slams the door behind her. I sigh. This could be a problem.

**A/N Wow, I actually started the story. I tried to write a beginning to it three times. Before, Riku was only supposed to have taken a vacation, but I think the whole "left Kairi behind" thing will add some depth and possible conflict.**

**Sakura, now she's a character that will be shrouded in mystery until she arrives; which might be in chapter two, possibly chapter three, maybe four, who knows?**

**I hope you like this beginning. Till we meet again (you know, in chapter 2…),**

**The Incarnate**


	2. Chapter 2: Riku

**-Chapter 2: Riku-**

**Dear Riku,**

**I'm really sad that you left. But I'm even sadder that you're never coming back. It just seams like my luck that my one true love would drift away from me, never to return. I hope that you're happy where you are. I want you to know that I dream of you always. You're always in my thoughts; I can't get you out of my head. Please come back to me.**

**Waiting for you,**

**Kairi**

I stare downwards at the crisp, white piece of paper, as usual; it makes my heart beat faster, and my eyes water. It's a letter, one that I received from Kairi a few weeks after I arrived in Traverse Town. When I touch it I can almost feel the emotions, the energy riding through it. At the time I'd wished that I could listen to her requests. But no, that was impossible.

It's not like I _meant _to break her heart. It wasn't my fault that my parents forced me to move. I tried to break it to her softly, but no, she wouldn't have that. She kicked and screamed and cried. She left me empty.

When I left, it was horrible; it was hard to force her out of my mind. It was impossible to forget about her.

Right now I'm on a plane, flying through the Gummi Air Line. I sigh, gazing at the note one last time before letting it fall.

She sent that to me a long time ago…I wonder if she still feels the same way, if she'll be glad to see me return.

Will Kairi hate me? Will she scorn me for leaving her side?

So many questions and so little answers…

I sigh, flicking a silver lock out of my eyes.

"Can I sit here?" the voice knocks me out of my reverie, like a slap to the face. I look up at the sound, and what I see is like yet ANOTHER slap.

Her hair is long, black and lengthy, her skin a beautiful chocolate brown. Her eyes are like two flaming coals, burning into mine.

"Yeah," I manage, trying to maintain that stoic demeanor that I have going on. I don't think it works; usually when a girl talks to me she'll give me a nervous giggle, and then flutter her eye lashes. But she only smiles, sitting down beside me.

"So…you're going to Destiny Islands?" she asks curiously, tucking a lock of hair behind one ear. I notice that she's wearing an all black corset with dark heels, the kind of shoes that make peoples' feet hurt from just _looking _at them.

"Yep, my school is closing down—"

"Was your school, by any chance, Wise Academy?"

"Yeah, did you go there?" I ask. She doesn't look all that familiar, and I think I would have noticed a make up-less Goth prowling around school.

"Of course, but that turned out to be a big waste of time. I mean, half the time I ended up stuck in some dumb ass class, listening to things I already know," she rolls her eyes. "And the side I was stuck on was an all girls thing. No cute guys anywhere!"

"I know the feeling…"

Hearing the beginnings of laughter I quickly add, "I mean about the "all ready knowing what they taught" part. Not the…cute guys part…" I say uneasily.

"Awkward."

"Very."

"You should loosen up more, enjoy life."

"This coming from a Goth…"

"I'm not a Goth. Just because my favorite color is black and I wear corsets does not mean I'm a…" she trails off at my amused expression. "Okay maybe I'm a little bit on the dark side. But not _that_ much."

"Right…" I laugh, "I'm Riku by the way." Wow, in just a few short moments of tender conversation Kairi has completely left my mind. The ache in my heart is gone, fading into nothingness.

"It's _marvelous_ to meet you Riku," she drawled, her eyes glistening, "I'm Sakura."

**-Sora-**

"Can you believe we're actually going to see Riku?" I ask; my excitement showing clear through my voice. "After all this time he's finally coming back!"

"Yeah," Roxas sighs, staring at the ceiling.

"That's…great…" Kairi says slowly, her eyes downcast.

"Uh huh," Namine' is staring at Kairi with a troubled look on her face.

I look around at everybody. As usual it seems like I'm the most cheerful one of the group, but even so, they shouldn't be THIS down. Something must be up.

I start to play absentmindedly with my necklace. Roxas seems a bit…what's that word…exasperated. Yeah, that's it. Kairi's, um, standoffish. And Namine' seams worried. This doesn't look good.

**-Riku-**

I help Sakura off the plane, holding her hand as she steps off. She's smiling at me, that strange, exhilarating smile that I've never seen before from anyone else. She engages me into a conversation.

Basically, the flight was a series of questions about friends, family, and basically life in general. Or course there was the odd question like, "What's your favorite color?"

"Black," Sakura responds almost immediately.

"Wow, why didn't I see that coming?"

"Ha, ha you're hilarious," she rolls her eyes, her smile undermining the dryness of the sarcasm. "So, where are your friends do you think?"

"Well," I consider that question for a bit longer then the previous ones, "usually you can find Sora easily; he really sticks out in a crowd because—"

"C'mon Kairi! WHY CAN'T WE GET GUMMY WORMS???" the voice rings all over the room. Sakura's eyes widen as she turns to the source of the noise.

It is none other then that spiky haired little devil, that sunny brunette of hyperactive energy, _the _one and only Sora.

"No Sora you can't have the Gummy Worms, your mom told me not to let you have any sugar," Kairi says, hiding the candies behind her back.

"Since when did you listen to authority figures?"

"Since I realized that you and sugar don't mix," she retorts.

He folds his arms and pouts, before finally turning and noticing me. "RIKU!" he squeals in a high pitched girlish way. The rest of them turn, Roxas, Namine' and Kairi.

"Oh, hey Riku," Roxas says with a sigh.

"Hello," Kairi murmurs, staring at her feet.

"Sakura?" Namine' asks, staring at something over my shoulder. I turn noticing Sakura again, who I'd forgotten about until now.

"Namine'!" Sakura squeals, wrapping the blonde girl in a hug.

"Oh my god, it's so nice to see you!"

"You two know each other?" Riku asks.

"Yeah, ever since we were six," Namine and Sakura both say at the exact same time. "We met each other in Twilight Town."

"Um…who's this?" Sora asks confuse.

"Namine's friend," Roxas tells him. "She's moving back to the Islands too."

"YAY, a new friend!" Sora yells enthusiastically.

Kairi stares at me for a moment before adding, "Yeah…great."

**A/N eek, I added Sakura so soon. I guess I rushed this. Anyway, Riku is back, and he brought his new plane friend. Sora is excited, Roxas is exasperated and Kairi's depressed. What will happen next? What's going on with Axel? Where the hell is Xemnas?**

**Find out in chap three!**

**Oh and one more thing, in DD Gummy was a restaurant, but in RR it's an airline. Why is this so? It's because Gummy is actually an international company that owns practically everything in the KH world. Sorry, just had to clear that up for all those confused. **

**R&R!!!!**

**_Edited to say: _Sorry this chapter took so long... wouldn't let me upload ANY documents. But now that problem is fixed. R&R!**


	3. Chapter 3: Axel in a Tree

**-Chapter 3: Axel in a Tree-**

The first person I see is Xemnas, silver hair falling over his eyes, complimenting his whole "dark as night, cloak wearing; bad-ass perception."

Not that I find his whole "black cloak thing" hot though…I mean, come on. I'm Axel; I care for no silver haired hotties! I have dignity after all.

No, the person I care about is just emerging from the darkness. She wears the same hooded outfit, she possesses the same dark eyes…she's exactly as I remember her.

"_Larxene…" _I whisper, from my position on the tree.

We met a while back, when we were all juniors. Shinra; Mr. Wise' arch rival company in business, had just appeared.

The Shinra Company was as large as Gummy, and held tremendous power. It was the electric company you turned to when things got bad, it was the convenience store that you bought all your beer from. It made weapons…it did everything.

It was dangerous too, back then, under the management of a man named Sephiroth. He would charge people horrendously for his company's services, he would cheat and mislead and use every trick in the book to get us to pay him more.

Back then…he was the enemy.

My family had lost a lot to him, but when I met Xemnas; my true hate for Shinra began to grow. Xemnas hated them too…he wanted to bring them down.

So he found others, teenagers who had been scorned by Sephiroth's power. He made them join his little "club" well…club isn't the right word, it's more like an "organization".

Eventually there were twelve of us, twelve angry people who despised Shinra. When Larxene and I met we were inseparable, dating and loving each other…but that was not enough to stop the damage that would follow.

We took action, but even then we didn't know how far it could possibly go. It was just a game before, a little battle between "good" (us) and "evil" (Shinra). It didn't stay that way.

It started innocently…pep rallies, protests…boycotting. It was all simple, but that was when Shinra fought back. They sent spies into the Wise Company, and Gummy exposing all of their dirty little secrets. With this knowledge, they brought Ansem Wise down, as well as Mickey Mouse C.E.O of Gummy incorporated; they drove the two business men to near bankruptcy.

That was when Xemnas got violent. He infiltrated Shinra…and with a single loaded gun, disposed of Sephiroth once and for all. Shinra crumbled.

Mr. Wise got his fame back, as people came crawling back to his company, Mickey Mouse got all of his former customers back as well…that of course, is when the new guy stepped in.

His name was Cloud, and he was Sephiroth's brother. We expected it to get as bad before, for Shinra to come charging back, but it never did. Sure it regained its strength, but it never pursued the Wise family.

Cloud was different, we all knew it.

Well, all but Xemnas. He thought that all of the Strife's were the same, that Cloud was just as bad as Sephiroth: he was unforgiving. He got a new member: Roxas, and with him he sabotaged all of Shinra's shipments, orders, and command centers. Who knew an angry teen could do so much?

But Roxas saw how wrong it was…especially when Xemnas took the life of Aerith, Cloud's…um…lover.

Roxas left the organization…and I followed suit. I asked Larxene to go with me, we were in love. We'd dated since the organization's start after all…shouldn't she leave with me?

But she didn't. She was afraid of what Xemnas could do to her if she ever deserted the group.

I watch her now, blonde hair flicking behind one ear, eyes gazing around. She meets Xemnas in the center of the clearing.

He wraps his arms around her waist, snuggling his stupid little face into her thin, beautiful neck. She smiles slightly at his affection, but behind her eyes I can see fear.

It makes me want to jump from my hiding spot and run to her. I want to wrap my arms around her and whisper that it will be okay…but even I know it won't be.

I watch for a moment as Xemnas and my girl lock lips, my teeth clench with anger, and my eyes water with menace.

I hate him! Stupid Xemnas, I just want to set his head on fire!

At the thought of fire I calm down a bit, I climb down from the tree, tip toeing away before Larxene or Xemnas can notice me.

I want so badly to burn something…

**A/N Well, this fic just gets bigger and bigger doesn't it? I bet you were wanting more romance and light humor in this chapter, sorry to disappoint you! Yes it's short, but its only purpose is to introduce Shinra, Cloud, and the reason that Xemnas is so…you know, evil.**


	4. Chapter 4: IM Madness

**-Chapter 4: IM Madness-**

Oh…my god.

I'm on the Destiny Islands; with Namine' and all of her friends, and I'm damn happy about it. I mean, after all this time, all of the days that I spent lonely in Traverse Town; I'm finally reunited with my best friends.

Not only that, but I have a whole new batch of friends that come with my old one.  
During the ride home I had a chance to get to know Sora (who is, at the very least an optimist), Kairi (who seems a bit standoffish at the moment), Roxas (Namine's boy toy), and Riku. Ah, Riku, now he's an odd one.

He's…pretty. Okay, that sounds wrong to describe a guy as "pretty" but I think it's true. The way his hair shines across his pale face, the way those green eyes glow in the dark. It's enough to make a girl go gaga.

Of course, I'm not your average girl.

My name is Sakura, and I was born to cause turmoil. That's a fact, since kindergarten I've always caused small fights amongst my friends.

That's what caused them to…leave me. It's sad; it's horrible how they always leave me, but I suppose the losses make me stronger. But of course, _one_ friend stayed, a certain blonde haired girl with fair skin.

Namine'; when I first met her, I knew she was pretty, but it wasn't until seventh grade that I realized she had it going on. Boys would stare at her all the time, girls would hiss, their cold-as-steel eyes piercing her shy armor.

Namine' is shy, very shy, and she wears this emotion like a shield, protecting her from harm. I've always called it her "shy armor".

Anyway, back to the point, she had the "it" factor; and so did I. It was so easy for me, to manipulate the guys, to watch their flow over me as they absorbed me. It's magic, my magic, a sinister ability to enchant those around me, and destroy the relationships of my friends.

I'm like Helen in The Battle of Troy. I start wars over my beauty, destroy civilizations with my enchantments. Okay, so that might be an overstatement, but still, I've been known to cause fights accidentally.

Back then Namine' and I had it all. But then she moved, and again I was all alone. Sure there were the boys; with there shy lips and exploring tongues…but I had no real friends besides Namine'. My boyfriends never lasted; the dream life that I'd lived became a nightmare.

It was shortly then that I began to drift away, going to "Wise Academy" learning that Namine' once again moved to The Destiny Islands…it's been such a long path.

Now I'm on a new path, a new group of friends, and a new love interest. Pretty, pretty Riku…

"How do you like it Sakura?" Namine' asks, turning towards me, her long wavy blonde hair brushing over one shoulder. "Is this room big enough for you? Do you need mine? We can always get mine and—"

"Its fine Namine'," I interrupt, placing a black gloved hand on her shoulder, I use my sensual voice, willing her to calm down. "Relax, it's absolutely brilliant."

She sighs, "That's good."

"What's shoved up your ass?" I question, settling myself in a comfy chair.

"Oh…just Kairi, she's been acting really strange lately."

"What do you mean?" I ask, pulling out a sucker from my tiny little purse. I press the candy to my tongue, savoring the electric taste.

"Ever since she found out that Riku was coming back she's gotten sort of…numb. You know, unfeeling and all."

"She doesn't seam like the '_unfeeling_' type."

"Well…before I came her she used to have a crush on Riku. When he left she started dating Sora. And I'm worried about him too, what if she goes running back to Riku after this? That'll break the poor boy's heart."

I think about this for a moment, even though I'd only known Sora for a couple minutes, I'd definitely gotten the vibe that he was overly enthusiastic all the time. But beneath that he was a person, just like any other…he could feel sadness…and he seems to worship the ground that Kairi walks on. If she left him…this could be bad.

Besides that, if she went after Riku that would make him OFF LIMITS; and that can't be allowed to happen. No, Riku is mine, and I'm not going to let some sad red head steal him away.

"Well then," I finally reply, smirking to myself, "we have to keep them together. We can't let my new friends break each other's hearts," _or steal my soon to be boyfriend._

"Why do I get the feeling that something bad is about to happen?" Namine' ponders. She's so sweet and innocent, but sometimes you have to get down and dirty to win your battles. And I intend to do just that.

"Because something bad _might _happen if we don't help Sora and Kairi," I say, trying my best to conceal the evil grin on my face, "we wouldn't want them to get hurt would we?"

"No…I guess not."

"Good, now leave so I can unpack."

"Kay," she turns and saunters off, "I'll be in the kitchen if you want anything."

Well, I have a plan…now all I need to do is execute it in the proper way; I glance over at my computer, and notice that my IM is on, but not yet signed in. Hmm, I don't need to act now, but that doesn't mean I can't set the stage.

**-Riku-**

"Wow…" I whisper, staring around the room.

"Do you like it?" my parents ask at the same time, as sickeningly cheerful as it is I can't help but smile.

"Yeah, I love it," I turn and hug mom and dad tightly. My mother has my silver hair; my dad has my bright green eyes. It's great to know that I have half of my mom and half of my dad inside me. It's comforting to know that I have a legacy.

"We're glad," my dad responds, grasping me tightly. "We're so, so glad."

I release my parents, turning to my bag and unzipping it. "So I guess you guys can go now…I mean, I've got to unpack and all…"

"We're going," my mom waves, before turning and doing her graceful little dance of a walk through the door.

"Bye son," dad follows his wife.

"Yeah…bye," I listen for their hurried foot steps, hearing them recede I sit on my bed hurriedly.

God, this is just so…overwhelming.

I, Riku, am back in The Destiny Islands. Not only am I'm going to see Sora again, but Kairi, Kairi's friend Namine' and…_Roxas_.

God I hate that kid, for someone related to Sora he's not good at ALL. For one thing he's always trying to steal my best friend from me. Don't get me wrong, it's not like Sora's my property, but I've known him for a long time and we've been through a lot after all.

Besides, Sora's always been the one person I could talk to when things got bad. He was the one person who I could always confide in, and he was the only person whose rants I could actually stand. Whenever he'd have a problem, I would listen. Whenever he had girl trouble, I'd always have some REALLY good advice.

Yeah, Sora's the best.

Roxas how ever, is a drag. Whenever I hang out with Sora, he just has to tag along to ruin all my fun. Yeah, he's a weird one.

But, sadly, he's not the biggest mystery at the moment. There is, of course, Sakura. The girl whose beauty astounds me, and yet, that's not the most interesting part about her. No, the interesting part is her emotions, the vibrant happiness that lies in her smile and glows through her eyes. And the slithery deviousness that is hidden beneath every single word she says, like a shadow. I'm so confused; I don't quite know who she is. I spoke to her a lot on the way to Namine's house, where we dropped both Namine' and Sakura off.

One minute she's completely good and innocent, the next, she changes. She shifts her shape into something cold, calculating and utterly sexy.

I sigh, standing up, only to settle into my computer chair, and logging into IM.

**Silver Spirit has singed on.**

**Hot Gothic has singed on.**

**Silver Spirit: Who R U? **

**Hot Gothic: Sakura of course, who else is both hot AND gothic?**

**Silver Spirit: LOL**

**Silver Spirit: So what R U doing right now?**

Wow, I'm having on online conversation with one of the most intriguing girls I've ever met. It's odd how I was just thinking about her and here she is.

**Hot Gothic: Eating my way through a pound of chocolate chip cookies. U?**

**Silver Spirit: Pretending to unpack, while talking 2 U.**

**Hot Gothic: Hmm, for some reason I didn't picture U as an anti-unpacking person. **

**Silver Spirit: anti what?**

**Kingdom Key has singed on**

**Kingdom Key: Hi Riku, its Sora, who's Hot Gothic?**

**Hot Gothic: It's me, Sakura, and HI.**

**Silver Spirit: Hey Sora.**

Damn it Sora, always have to interrupt at the wrong moments.

**Nobody59 has singed on**

**Hot Gothic: Hey Namine', U using your dad's computer?**

**Nobody 59: Yep, hey Riku and Sora**

**Silver Spirit: Wow, it's getting crowded in here.**

**Burn-down-the-tree has singed on**

**Burn-down-the-tree: Hey everyone, it's Axel.**

**Silver Spirit: I'm going to go. I've got unpacking to do.**

**Hot gothic: Me too, bye everybody.**

**Silver Soul has singed off**

**Hot Gothic has singed off**

Wow, it's amazing what happens when you put a bunch of teenagers on one IM conversation. '_At least I got to talk to Sakura…' _I muse, _'wait, stop that, you can't have a crush on someone you met an hour ago…it's just not right.'_

'_But then…who says I can't be a bad boy?' _

God that sounded corny…

**A/N! So it seams that Sakura is a bit devious. No, she is not evil, but she is a bit selfish when it comes to finding her special someone. And on top of that Riku seams to be falling for Sakura, but trying to work out his feelings for Kairi. FINALLY DONE WITH THIS CHAPTER! It took a while, but hey, I'm done.**

**Thanks to EVERYONE who reviewed, I love you guys all so much.**

**Here's a tiny preview of chapter five: Namine' and Roxas fluff, Sora and Kairi problems, Axel and Larxene worries and Sakura and Riku hard-to-get games. Oh, this should be fun.**


	5. Chapter 5: Just a Warning

**-Chapter 5: Just a Warning-**

Namine' smiles down at me, placing another kiss on my already abused lips. It's funny how we can never get through a single movie without making out.

She places her hands on my chest, stroking my arms and driving her tongue into my mouth. God this feels good…

Namine' pulls away and gives me an amused look, "Someone's getting excited."

"Yeah…you do that to me…" I laugh nervously, and she laughs back.

"I'll take that as a compliment I suppose. I mean, if just kissing you can get you THIS worked up…"

I pull her down into my arms again. Her whole body ends up pressed against my chest, I place a soft kiss against her cheek, and allow myself to relax.

"Roxas?" Namine' asks after a small silence.

"Yeah?"

"This feels good, like, really good. You know?"

"I know," I inhale the soft scent of her new peach shampoo.

"Roxas, you're the best boyfriend I've ever had."

"And you're the best _girlfriend _I've ever had."

"Hmm…why's that?" Namine' asks.

"Well, you're beautiful, amazing, smart funny and…and I love you."

I hear a gasp—Namine's—I've never said that to her before. But even now I know it's true, I love Namine' with all of my heart. She's every thing to me…before I liked her, a lot, but now…I love her.

"Y-you love me…?"

"Always and forever."

"T-that's so sweet? Oh, and Roxas?"

"Yeah?"

"I might just love you too."

"Hmm…" I kiss her again, savoring the taste of her lips. "You taste good," I whisper into her ear, hoping it doesn't sound creepy.

She giggles, "You taste good too, and I love that new cologne you're using…"

"I'm not looking!" the voice suddenly makes Namine' jump off of me and turn to the door. The new girl, Sakura, walks in. She has one hand covering her eyes and the other is running against random objects, helping her around the room. "Just looking for my keys…I'm going to visit Riku…I'll be gone in a minute."

She's wearing a short skirt of tight leather, with two equally tight black leather gloves over her hands. The gloves reach practically to her elbows, and two high, thin black boots. Not the country-girl style boots; but odd, gothic, high heel boots.

"ALL black? Isn't that a little chancy?" Namine' asks, gesturing to the outfit, "I mean, not even a red stripe?"

"Doesn't she always wear all black?"

"No, sometimes I mix colors and…" Sakura removes her hand from her face and pauses, finally noticing me fully, "_Oh! _I remember you, you're Roxas right? From when you guys picked me up at the airport?"

"Yeah—"before I can even finish my answer she plops down on my right side, making it so that Namine' practically has to sit in my lap for all of us to fit.

"Sorry for interrupting," she purrs, patting me on the head like a puppy.

"How come you had your eyes covered?"

"I thought you two were fooling around."

"Oh," _why did I have to ask? _

"So, I hear you and Namine' are close…?" she asks, examining one of her gloved hands.

"Yeah, we are," Namine' and I answer at exactly the same time. Sakura only smiles before replying:

"Really…well, I'm glad to hear that my best friend has finally found love." _'Love, yeah, that's definitely what we have.' _I start grinning at the thought.

"Can I speak to Roxas alone please?" Sakura asks Namine' after a moments silence.

"Of course," Namine' stands up and walks into the next room, not even slightly suspicious. I, on the other hand, am very curious about what's going on.

"What's—"

"Listen pretty boy," Sakura interrupts, turning to me and grabbing me by the shirt, "don't you _dare _break Namine's heart. She's been through to much to have another ass-hole boyfriend added to her list…"

I must have a hurt expression because her voice softens.

"Listen, I think you're a nice guy, and I'm only warning you. DON'T BREAK NAMINE'S HEART. Do you hear me? Don't break it," she releases my shirt and I fall back.

"I promise I won't hurt her," I say, my resolve standing tall.

"Good, that's what I thought you'd say." She stands up and calls Namine' back to the room. When the beautiful blonde goddess comes back Sakura politely tells us to get back to 'Screwing'.

The Goth leaves, turning on her heel and walking away.

"What was that about?" Namine' asks me.

"Oh it was just…a warning, a _really, REALLY _friendly warning."

**-Sora-**

I kiss Kairi forcefully (just the way she likes it), but she doesn't kiss back. I try a little harder, pushing my tongue against her lips, praying for entrance to her mouth. She doesn't let me in. I try a little more, only for her to pull away abruptly.

We're at her house, watching "**Guess Who**" on her flat screen. Usually, by now, we'd be making out and her lipstick would be all over my face. But Kairi's being standoffish, AGAIN.

"What's wrong?" I ask curiously.

"I just don't feel like kissing…that's all."

"But you're always ready to kiss."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's just that, well…I think you're sad about something. I think we should talk about it."

"We don't need to talk about everything, _Sora_." Kairi's voice takes on an unhealthy edge. I gulp, my resolve wavering.

"What is up with you lately? You keep snapping at me for no reason…every since Riku came back," '_maybe she hates Riku now…but that can't be right. Can it?'_

Kairi and I never used to fight, but since Riku came back into our lives we've been like little kids, gabbing over every little thing.

"Nothing's up with me. I'm fine, you just keep getting in my business, god Sora, just cause' I'm your girlfriend doesn't mean I have to tell you EVERYTHING." By the word EVERYTHING she's practically screaming at me.

"Shh, Kairi you'll—"

"I'll what? Make a scene? We're all alone in this house Sora, just you me and this stupid T.V!" She stands up abruptly, leaving me wide eyed on the couch. "And frankly, _Sora _I'm tired of breathing the same air as you."

She storms off, leaving me confused, alone, and close to tears. And trust me, I don't cry easily.

As the silence stretches on (I stopped **Guess Who**) I can almost hear my own depression.

Before I can stop myself I grab for my cell phone and dial Riku's number.

'_Hello?' _the voice asks from the other end.

"R-riku?"

'_Yeah, what's wrong Sora?' _I can hear the concern ringing deep beneath his voice. Good, I need it.

"I-it's Kairi…I just…" I break off with a nose that's somewhere between a choke and a cough.

'_I'm coming over,' _Riku says shortly before hanging up. I can almost imagine him jumping into a car and driving to my aid.

"Hurry…" I whisper to myself, hoping that he can hear my plea. I lie on the couch and huddle into the cushions, before closing my eyes and hoping that these feelings go away…

**-Axel-**

'_I can't believe I'm doing this,' _that is my one recurring thought. I'm standing—no, crouching—behind a bush. I can just barely make out Xemnas' flat through the leaves.

All of the organization members, except for Xemnas and Larxene, have left for pizza. Xemnas and Larxene were all alone in the flat, but then Xemnas left because he got an urgent call from Marluxia (or actually me on Marluxia's phone) about an emergency.

Now Larxene was all alone, my perfect chance.

I jump from the bush and stride over to the nearest window. I inspect my bare knuckles; '_This is going to hurt,_' the thought drifts through me absentmindedly. '_But it has to be done…' _I remind myself.

Without a second thought I wham my fist into the glass, in shatters almost immediately. There's a split second, in between were the glass falls and my knuckles start to bleed.

The second passes and the glass crashes to the floor.

Another second and I'm crawling through the window, a third and I'm approaching Xemnas' room.

I open the door cautiously, and the woman I've waited so long to talk to is right there. Her blonde hair is falling behind her in sharp waves, her hooded robe discarded, revealing a T-shirt and beautifully tight pants.

"What are you _doing _here?" she gasps, backing away.

Not the welcome I'd been expecting, but whatever.

"I came to save you…" and then my whole "hero" speech evaporates from my head. I spent HOURS rehearsing it in front of a mirror for this?

I mean, now that I think about it the whole thing sounds stupid. I mean, the entire speech depends on one thing: Larxene wanting me to save her. But what if she doesn't? What if she WANTS to stay with Xemnas?

"I don't need to be saved," she says bitterly.

"I think you do," there's no certainty in my voice, no confidence, no nothing.

"I don't. Do you realize what Xemnas will do to you when he finds you here? He'll KILL you. He's done it before."

"C'mon Larxene, you could've left with me…It's not too late, we can run away together…" I hope the line works.

"We can't. Xemnas will…"

"Don't let him win," I interrupt, walking closer to her.

She backs farther away, "But he will win, that's just how he is…" her voice is fierce, but beneath it I can sense her fear. I cling to that fear…I exploit it.

"Then let me protect you…" I breathe, pushing her against the wall.

"Please don't—"I press my lips to hers, remembering the familiar tingle of her energy running through me. She's like fire, a warm fire that doesn't burn me when I get to close…a flame that's more tempting then all the other ones combined.

She places her hands on my chest and pushes me away. "Axel, don't. I love you, really, I do. But Xemnas is unstoppable, and I won't let you get hurt because of me.

I look down at my feet, feeling unbelievably hurt.

"Don't let him win…" I mumble.

"Don't lose," she raises my eyes to hers, I see her vibrant smile, the one I love so much. Her eyes glisten with something, something familiar…she's hinting…hinting at something.

"You should leave, Xemnas will be back any minute," she tells me.

"Okay…I'll go," I turn, "how will you explain the window?"

"I'll think of something…" she sighs, twirling a lock of hair around her index finger.

I nod, before placing a kiss on her cheek.

I jump out the window, feeling her smile behind me.

It's funny, she said: Don't lose. Almost as if…

"She wants me to save her…"

**A/N I shall end the chapter here…I hope I made it long enough. Also, I'd like to apologize, because I said there would be more Sakura & Riku stuff in this chapter. Sadly, I can't fit that in here. But there will be some in the next chapter.**

**Speaking of which…**

**Next time on ****Rocky Relationships****: Riku and Sora have a talk about Kairi. Sakura goes to Riku's house, only to find him absent. Namine' and Roxas confront Kairi, asking her what the problem REALLY is. **

**Will Riku, Namine', and Roxas' efforts be in vane? Will Kairi come to her senses? Will we ever find out what's bugging her?**

**Tune in next time.**


	6. Chapter 6: Destiny

**Disclaimer: Hello everybody, it's been a while since I did a disclaimer, so here it is. And here to help me is…SAKURA!**

**Sakura: What the hell am I doing here?**

**Me: You're helping me with the disclaimer.**

**Sakura: But I don't even exist…**

**Me: You do in my head.**

**Sakura: You are SOOOOO insane.**

**Me: Yeah, yeah, details, details.**

**Me: Now say it!**

**Sakura: Okay…FINE. The Darkside Incarnate does not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the other themes that will be used in this story.**

**Me: I own you.**

**Sakura: (glares) Damn it he's right…**

**-Chapter 6: Destiny-**

I'm driving quickly, not flying around corners, but certainly gliding. Moments ago I got a call from Sora and he sounded pretty sad. Sora only gets sad when something REALLY bad has happened.

My guess: Kairi, she's been acting really strange lately.

Why is she acting strange? My guess: PMS, nuff said.

Whatever the reason she's been real mad lately. She probably took her rage out on Sora.

Now, Sora is usually the laid back type. A girl breaks up with him? Whatever, he just moves on with his life. Family member dies? Hey, at least they're in a better place.

But you have to understand, this is KAIRI we're talking about. Sora's one true love, he's felt this way about her ever since…well…forever.

I knew it to…but that still didn't stop me. I still dated Kairi, I still screwed everything up.

I sigh, turning into Sora's driveway. I hop out of the car, unlock the front door and walk right in. Sora gave me his house key a long time ago. That way, if I ever needed a place to stay for the night, I could go here.

I remember one time, when I'd gotten completely drunk, Sora had to carry my ass all the way upstairs without his parents noticing. Those were the good old days.

Sora is in the living room, curled up on the couch. Without a word I sit down beside him, pat him on the back, and watch him look up at me.

"Hey…" he says softly.

"Hey, how you holding up?" I ask.

"I'm okay…it's just…well…I just didn't see this coming. I mean, one minute we were making out and the next moment she went totally crazy. And I just…" he breaks off, breathing heavily.

"Dude…" I consider telling him that he's overreacting. I mean, he kind of is. Sure, he likes Kairi a lot, but still. But no, I can't do that, it will crush him. No, I'll have to go on the defensive. "What's the whole story?"

"Okay, what happened was…"

**-Two minutes and a hasty explanation later…-**

"…and ever since you came back she's been acting like this. I mean…I just don't get it."

I do, it must be because of ME that she's acting like this. It's because of ME that she's breaking Sora's heart, and it's because of ME that everything's getting screwed up.

Great…this semester is turning out SPECTACULAR.

"That sucks."

"Tell me something I don't know!" Sora says angrily. "God, if you're just going to stay stupid shit like that then don't say anything at all!" he jumps up from his seat and stares at me with a smoldering gaze.

"I'm sorry…I'm just a little confused."

"Do you need me to explain it again—"

"No, it's not that kind of confused," I laugh a little. "No, it's just that all of this crap going on can't be a coincidence. I think luck is against us right now."

"I didn't know that you believed in luck."

"I don't. But just because I don't believe in it doesn't mean it's not real."

"True…"

"I'm sorry about all this. And I'll do my best to help in any way I can," I wrap Sora in a friendly hug. "I've got your back."

"Thanks," he whispers, his spiky hair lightly prickling against my cheek.

"Any time."

"Hey…Riku?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we…have a movie marathon?" he asks, his voice is hopeful. "Like when we were kids? We used to do it all the time."

"Yeah," a huge grin crosses my face, "sounds fun."

Sora whoops and dives for his DVD cabinet.

"What should we start with…The Matrix, Garfield…?" Sora starts to lists all of his favorite movies.

"I don't know dude," I answer, once he's done. "As long as you feel better."

**-Roxas-**

"I'll get it!" Namine' yells cheerily as she skips off to her door. I smile to myself; she's so cute after post-make out sessions.

"Kairi…?" Namine's loud voice echoes back to me, and it sounds WAY different. Not the happy, cheery-ness that defines our make-out sessions. No, her voice has become filled with something that I'm all too familiar with…worry.

"H-hi Namine," Kairi says as they walk back into the living room, she sounds different too. Different from her usual happiness, she's filled with a darker, sinister sadness.

Not to mention she sounds close to tears.

"What's wrong?" I ask, hurriedly readjusting my shirt and re-zipping my jacket. I try my best to cool myself off, but even I can't deny how good Namine' is at kissing…okay, stay focused Roxas.

"S-Sora…he…I…we…" and then it starts, long tears, falling at the exact spots. In that moment Kairi looks like a painting I saw once; it was a girl with hair like fire…crying tears of ice. I can almost see the artist's perfect strokes, defining the pale flush of her skin. I can see the long slashes of blue that become tears of fearsome cold. Kairi's sadness becomes part of her beauty…and yes, she is beautiful, but nothing compared to Namine'.

Kairi's sadness should be mourned over.

"SSSSHHHH…don't try to talk," Namine' says soothingly, setting her down on the couch. I can see Namine' too, her concern filling the room with spectacular splashes of yellow and white. She becomes complete and total art, her eyes glowing like two stars of complete and utter blue.

"Take it slow," I offer, sitting beside Kairi and patting her awkwardly on the shoulder. "What happened?"

"It wasn't his fault…it was…God why can't I form any rational sentences?" she laughs, but the effect is ruined by her icy tears. "I lost it. That's the best explanation. I just lost it…with everything going on lately…and all of this crap being thrown around…" a pause.

"Well," she says after the short silence, "I guess I should start over; Sora and I were…watching a movie. Then we were kissing…and well…I wasn't really getting into it. Sora got all bugged…and he asked me what was wrong…and I just…I just lost it." Her voice is hovering on the line of hysterical laughter and unbearable sadness.

Suddenly she changes tack, "You know why I lost it? Cause' Sora's a dick that's why. And I hate him…I really do!" She looks at first Namine' then me. She tries to convince us that this is all about Sora, that it has nothing to do with what's been going on the last few weeks.

Again I see the strange world of paintings and colors that is behind everything that I we do. I see an image of Kairi, dancing with Sora. I revisit that moment at the movies, when she taunted Sora with her body. I realize something…

"This isn't about Sora at all is it? This is about Riku."

Kairi looks up at me with pure, hate filled eyes, "No it isn't." But I can already see by her reaction that it is. That this pain and sadness has been caused by the silver haired demon that just HAD to reappear in our lives.

It wasn't Sora she was dancing with; it wasn't Sora she was taunting. It was Riku.

I see that paint filled world again, I see that place of splashes and color swirls, and I know what it is. I'm seeing what lies beneath the blind emotions and passionate love, behind the friendships and the enemies. I'm seeing what defines all of us.

I'm seeing Destiny.

Namine' is staring intently at Kairi as well, just like me. She knows what I've said is true, and I have the feeling that she too sees the world this way, that she can feel Destiny.  
"Is that true Kairi?" Namine' asks, but she knows the answer.

I stare at Kairi, but no retort comes, no confession, no excuses, just inaudible sobs and gasps of complete revulsion. Not at us, Sora, or even Riku, but at herself.

Her tears fall to the carpet, and I see their splashes become colors, colors of blue and icy sadness.

**-Sakura- **

I smile at myself, at this situation and at everything in general. Believe it or not, beneath the Emo and the Gothic lies happiness. And I am truly happy now. Not only am I heading for Riku, but I'm finally going to set the first Dominoes down. I'm going to place the final precautions, so that the silver haired prey falls right into my trap.

He'll love me. He has too.

I bite my lip, knowing that this will only get more complicated as it goes along. But I don't care, I live to cause trouble. I exist to release conflict.

I park my car just barely to the side of the curve. I jump out of the vehicle and slam the door behind me.

I take long even strides, gliding my way towards Riku's house. It's painted tan, with long white drapes and a huge chimney.

Riku's house.

I brace myself for what I'm about to do. I prepare my heart for the risks I'm about to take.

The knock on the door reflects all of my uncertainness. It is gentle and withdrawn, but hopefully someone hears it.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three.

No answer.

I ready myself to knock again, when the door flies open. I take a step back, my ever-so-high heels clanking against the ground, my hand still raised in the knocking position.

"Can I help you?" the woman's voice is cheery, and her hair is long and silver. Riku's mom, no doubt about that…or maybe his sister. I notice how young she looks.

"Is Riku home?" I ask, regaining my composure.

"No, you just missed him."

I mentally kick myself, and a line of harsh profanities magically appear in my mind.

"Oh…well could you tell me where he went?" _so that I can kiss him and have hot sweaty—_okay Sakura, let's not defile the temple that is your body TOO much.

"He went to Sora's house; they're the best of friends you know. But…I'm wondering…are _you_ one of his friends?" and there's that dangerous edge to her voice. The edge of threatening menace that dares any slut to ruin her special boy. Yep, definitely the mom.

"Yes, I'm Sakura, it's _very _nice to meet you," I change my voice around, willing her to think me innocent.

"Oh, you seam like a very nice young woman. Do you want to come in? I have tea." Not even her deadly over-protective-mom powers could stand against me. Go Sakura!

"No thanks, I've got some things to do. It was nice to meet you Mrs. Uh…" crap! I don't even know Riku's last name.

"Yasutora. Mrs. Yasutora."

"Right, sorry, I'll remember that!" I turn and dash back to my car before I can say anything else depressingly stupid.

**-One whole car ride of mental self abuse later…-**

Sora's door is much easier to knock on. Partly because I've already been courageous enough to knock on Riku's door…and partly because I'm half expecting my silver haired god isn't even going to _be _there.

The door opens a lot quicker then before as well. And who answers the door? Riku of course. Why? Because Karma and Ironic-ness are absolute bitches.

"Hey Riku…" I say timidly.

"Sakura? What are you doing—"

"Who's at the door Riku?" Sora's voice rings from the living room.

"Here." Riku finishes, "Its Sakura," Riku calls back to Sora. In a flash, Sora is behind Riku.

"Have you heard from Kairi?" he asks hopefully.

"No. Why would I?"

"You haven't heard?" Riku asks.

"No…"

And then Riku tells me, all about what Kairi did to Sora. I listen intently.

"So…you're probably on her side," Sora finally cuts in. "I understand how you girls have to stick together…"

"No, actually, I think she's being a total bitch."

"Huh?" Sora and Riku ask, dumbfounded.

"You two are in love, she can't just treat her…um…_other _like this," Riku beams at me. Yes, siding with Sora is definitely the right choice. Not only because it's the right thing to do, but it definitely scored me Riku points!

"I'm glad you feel that way!" Sora brightens. "Oh, and nice outfit," he looks me up and down, his eyes lingering on my exposed legs.

Riku is looking too, and his eyes are HUGE.

Yes, the skimpy skirt and knee high high-heels are DEFINITELY doing their job.

"Thanks Sora," I say, watching as Riku blushes.

"So…what were you two doing before I interrupted?"

"We were having a Buffy marathon!" Sora yells, dashing back to the living room.

"I love that show!" I run after, noticing Riku following me. This is certainly going to be an interesting night. Even though Sora is here to crash the inevitable love fest between Riku and I, there's still a good chance I can show him my "moves".

Gosh that sounded guyish…

Yes, it is going to be a VERY interesting night.

**A/N Hello everyone! Yes chapter six is done. At first, I was reluctant to start it, but by the Roxas' POV I was in the ZONE. I love the idea of destiny taking shape. **

**I bet you're wondering why Roxas never mentioned it before. Well, this is because he couldn't see it. But all of these events have triggered something.**

**And now, I shall reply to a reader: Faery Ears. **

**I hope I made Sakura likeable enough for you this time around.**

**Oh and sorry if anyone has a problem with Sakura and Riku helping Sora out instead of Roxas and Riku. I needed Roxas to witness Kairi's heart break, and give Sora and Riku some "bonding time". **

**Well, that's it for this Authors Note. **

**All that remains is the preview:**

**(says in dramatic voice) Next Time on ROCKY RELATIONSHIPS: Namine' reveals more about herself to Roxas…and we find out if she too can truly see "Destiny". More Axel and Larxene problems, Sora and Kairi avoid each other, and Sakura visits Riku WAY after hours.**

**Yes, Destiny Islands is becoming a **_**very**_** interesting place to live.**

**I'm also celebrating the launch of my free webs website. It's www. free webs . com slash cursemark8 no spaces, and turn the slash into a literal slash mark. I have an all about me page, a writing page, a Q&A page and a Video page. And I'm still not done.**

**Okay, for real this time, the authors note is over. Okay.**

**R&R—dang it! Okay, now it's over.**


	7. Chapter 7: Stupid, Stupid Sakura

**-Chapter 7: Stupid, Stupid Sakura-**

One thing you should know, Sora and Sakura are VERY big fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. You've been warned. Now, here's why they like it so much: Sakura's into the engaging storylines and hard core romance…while Make Out scenes just make Sora horny. Sora likes to get horny. Besides that, he loves to watch things burst in to ash, especially at the hands of a blonde chick.

Throughout the entire season one DVD collection, I had to endure Sora and Sakura's _oohs_ and _ahhs. _Eventually, season one ended, and Sakura immediately popped in number two. Sora starts to yawn half way though, a couple seconds later he's asleep.

Sakura stares at Sora's spiky haired head for a minute, until she hears the soft snores, light as feathers.

"He's asleep," Sakura laughs to herself, before looking up to me. I don't answer her right away, or at all. I just Sora, his mouth partly open, air whistling between his teeth.

"I think…I'm going to go…" Sakura finally says after the moment of silence. For some reason my stomach clenches and disappointment explodes through me. I realize, as she gets up and looks down at me, that I don't want her to leave; not now, not ever.

She walks towards the door, but hesitates as her hand touches the knob. "Hey, Riku, do you…?"

"Huh?" Another short pause.

"I need to…ask you something."

"What is it?" beneath my question is a feeling, a strange lightness and expectation that warms me. What is it?

"Do you…?" hope, I realize, that's what the feeling is, complete and utter hope. I want her to say something…but I don't know what it is.

"Do I what…?" I ask, anticipation now, oh so deceptive anticipation.

"I…" she closes her eyes; letting dark locks of hair block her face. Her mouth moves, as if she's asking me something, but no words come. She bites her lip, letting the small pause become an eternity of silence. "Never mind…" she whispers, "it wasn't important."

She slams the door behind her, and I close my own eyes, letting the darkness welcome me back. For the first time in months I see "The Dark Place". That cold corner of sadness that I'd crawled into when I first moved away.

There is a single feeling that reconnects me with the light; that banishes The Dark Place to the deepest parts of my mind. One feeling, a familiar feeling: disappointment.

**-Namine'-**

Kairi left an hour ago, to go home and enjoy the comforts of her house. But then, that's probably not the most demanding reason she has for leaving. No, she yearns to get away from Sora…I can feel it.

Destiny agrees with me.

But…I shouldn't talk about that.

After all, if anyone found out about what I _see,_ they'd just think I'm crazy. Ever since I was five I could see a world of arts and sketches, of lies and truths that define us all. I see shadows and lights, fire and water. I know what the world is, it is destiny, and, until today, I thought that only I could see it.

But that could be a VERY wrong assumption.

After all, hadn't I seen Roxas with that same star struck expression as he stared around the room; that same expression that I used to have whenever I saw Destiny?

I told one of my friends once, about the visions, about the strange intricate web of thoughts and feelings, emotions and deaths that made up Destiny. No one believed me…except for Sakura. Even though she could not see this world, she always believed in me. She always knew that I was telling the truth.

I wonder if she still does. I wonder if she thinks about it at all.

But even though Sakura believed me, I still tried to avoid Destiny all together. Strange…I'd almost forgotten about it. Almost.

I sigh, watching as Roxas tip toes his way towards the door. We pulled an all-nighter accidentally. Me falling asleep on Roxas' chest, luckily my parents are on a month-long vacation. And Roxas spends the night at Sora's a lot, his parents have two homes, one on The Islands and one in Twilight Town. Roxas chose to stay permanently on The Islands instead of switching schools every other month.

Roxas isn't too happy with the situation…he thinks his parents should just stay in one spot, to grow roots and become healthy parental plants. I agree with him.

"Hey…Roxas?" I whisper, making a quick decision.

He turns back to me, an eager look on his face. "Yeah?"

"Do you…want to see my room?" his eyes grow wide and a huge smile appears on his face. I've never shown him my room before…for certain reasons.

"That'd be great!" he runs past me, towards the hall way. Now he's going to see my room, for the very first time.

My door is all white, unlike the rest of the house, which is painted various colors of tan and yellow. Behind that door is a room, just as white as the entrance, and I can see Roxas' wide eyed expression as he enters. There are pictures every where, small sketches pinned to every wall; some paintings hang around, suspended by metal nails.

One picture has fallen though, and it's the one picture I don't want him to see. But before I can get it, Roxas snatches it off the ground, his amazed expression still present on his face.

His expression changes, first to one of confusion, then realization, shocked amazement, and then a huge smile. "Is this us?" he asks, turning towards me. I stare at the paper for the first time in a _long _time.

It depicts us, Roxas and I, our faces connected by our lips, my hand stroking Roxas' cheek. There are special red shadings to our faces, to emphasize blushing.

It's one of the best pictures I have ever done, full of detail and intricate design. I wonder if he sees these details. I wonder if he sees Destiny in my art.

I smile absentmindedly at the picture; "Do you," a real blush crawls up my neck, "like it?"

"I love it! I never knew you were an artist! Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was…" I search for the right word "embarrassed about my pictures. And I was scared…I was scared that you wouldn't like them. I thought you'd think I was… untalented."

"I could never think that," he says, gesturing wildly to the pictures, "they are all great."

"Really…well…I have one more question."

"Shoot."

"Can you see…it?"

His eyes close, and I see him smile, "Can I see Destiny? Is that what you're asking?"

"Yes."

"Then yeah, I can see it…and it's…amazing."

"Good, because I can see it too—"I can't finish my sentence, because in five seconds Roxas' lips are glued to mine. Heat flows between us, blind, unchained flames. Destiny is all around us, pushing us fourth and presenting our choices. In the end we are all its slaves…slaves to fate and its many twists and turns.

Is this what it feels like to be free?

**-Sakura-**

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

God Sakura, you are SO stupid.

Why didn't you just tell him that you like him? Huh? Why couldn't you just DO that? I mean, you've never been shy before. Why now? Why the hell didn't I tell him…?

I sigh, slamming my "new" bedroom door behind me. I'm in Namine's house (of course), and for the past five minutes I've been mentally kicking myself.

I mean, why the hell didn't I admit my feelings to Riku? I mean…just…WHY? It makes absolutely no sense to keep these feelings to myself. I've never been shy, never been skittish, I've always been able to tell guys what's what and then some. But Riku…pretty, pretty Riku brings me to my knees. He turns me from the Super-mega-mistress-of-Bad-Assery to a shivering pile of empty "idiot-ness". I hate how he makes me feel, like a pile of slowly rotting Jelly.

I laugh at myself as I kick off my fancy boots. Slowly rotting Jelly…now there's an analogy you don't see every day.

I collapse on to my bed, loving the feeling of the sheets against my neck.

Stupid, stupid Riku why do you have to ruin everything?

'_I don't usually care this much about a guy,_' I note dryly. _'I wonder what's different about him…'_

**-Axel-**

I stumble into Roxas' apartment with clumsy feet. I feel like my head's about to split apart…this hang over is a BITCH.

"Hey Rox?" I hiccup.

"Axel?" a voice responds from somewhere in the house. "Is that you?" A spiky haired boy trips his way into my line of vision. He wears only a pair of boxers, and there's a bit of drool on his chin. I'm oddly coherent for someone with a hell-fire headache…

"Kill me…" I whisper, falling to my knees.

Roxas runs towards me, calling my name. I feel pressure on my shoulder—probably his—it hurts, just like the rest of my body. "What's wrong, Ax?"

"Stop it, Rox," I choke out, a tiny bit of tears falling down my face. I haven't cried in such a long while. "It hurts…please stop Roxas!" I beg, feeling the pressure recede from my shoulder. But the pounding head is still there, and my achy arms and legs.

"What's wrong?" he asks again, keeling down in front of me, so our faces are level.

"Nothing…it just hurts, that's all…" I mumble; it's hard to talk now, as if all of my senses are slowly failing me. I wonder, is it possible for a girl to steal your feelings, to make you go numb? Or maybe that was just the alcohol.

Roxas sniffs, then lowers his face closer to mine, and sniffs again.

"What the hell are you doing?" I ask, but it comes out jumbled and wrong, the words not making sense together. And the pain…the pain in my head is terrible.

"You've been drinking!" he suddenly explains, his mouth gaping.

"No I haven't."

"Yeah you have."

"Haven't."

"Have."

"Haven't"

"Have so."

"Have not!"

"Don't deny it, your breath smells like year old beer mixed with vomit."

"Um…thanks?" I look around his house, noticing how his parents are absent, again. It looks like they didn't come back this month. Damn, Roxas must be sad about that…and I haven't paid ANY attention to him. God…I've been so selfish.

"Why were you drinking?" he asks, interrupting my jumbled thoughts. The flames inside my head are still ravaging, I feel like my red-as-fire hair is going to burst into actual flames if I'm not careful. I hate this feeling…

"Larxene…I think better when I'm drunk," I hiccup again, "but the hangover thing is a bit of a drawback."

I laugh.

He doesn't.

"You promised you wouldn't drink anymore."

"What are you, my mother? It's either this, or I set random shit on fire—"

"Don't cuss."

I glare at him some more before sighing. "Larxene…she's still with Xemnas. And it's like he's holding her hostage, and there's just…there's just nothing I can do…there's no plan…there's no nothing," I let a tiny tear escape my eyes, before wiping it away.

Damn it, this is no way for a pyromaniac to act!

"It's okay Ax. You can't be expected to save everyone. I mean, everyone always thinks you're the bad-ass emo slash spiky-haired-hero, but even you need a break."

"I thought it was just 'bad ass emo'".

"It was. But now you've reached hero status. Don't worry; Sora and I will find a way to save Larxene…and get Kairi to apologize…and find out what's going on with Sakura…"

"We have a lot to do," I smile to myself, doing my best to ignore the terrible pain that's searing my eyes.

"Yeah, do you need a hug?"

He looks at me seriously, and I almost break into girlish giggles. "Yeah, but can we wait for you to get some clothes on?" I flicker my gaze down to his boxers for a second, then back to his face, hoping he gets the message.

"Oh," blushes explode over him in frenzy.

"Yeah oh," I laugh as he practically knocks his door over in his haste to cover himself. "You shouldn't be so modest…its unhealthy. Besides, I wouldn't leave me alone in your house…there is highly flammable content in your kitchen!"

Hey, guys gotta have his hobbies.

**A/N Okay, well I promised a "Late night visit" for Riku, but decided to put that off until the next chapter. **

**I'm glad to see that a lot of you like this story. That really boosts my confidence. After all, what would we writers do if we didn't have reviewers? Burst into flames of course. Thank you all for giving DD a chance, and exploring the sequel. I feel like I've gone a long way since that first humor-filled chapter of DD. And now look where I am? On chapter seven of the sequel! I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO proud of myself right now. Allow me to bask in my own gloating…ah that feels good.**

**Next time on ROCKY RELATIONSHIPS: Sakura visits Riku after hours (for real this time), will she admit her feelings, or will it all blow up in her face? Kairi and Sora avoid each other, and Axel searches for a way to save Larxene, before it's to late.**

**R&R!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	8. Chapter 8: Late Night Visit

**-Chapter 8: Late Night Visit-**

It takes all of my energy not to shout out the answer.

I'm in class right now, watching as a jock boy tries to answer the question with a bunch of "ums…" and "What was the question?" God, people, it isn't THAT hard to answer. _'If you were Frederic, how would you react to Mary's actions?' _A simple question about the book we've been reading. I've only been here about a week and I've already read that stupid book. From the first page to the last, and I'll tell you, it was a load of sentimental crap.

But then, maybe that's just the Goth girl talking, the devilishly sexy enchantress' words. Maybe I'm just not used to emotions. _'No…that's not it, it was just a load of crap.' _Yeah, that book sucked, it was positively boring. It went on and on about a bunch of relationships, and how the "protagonists" keep their love together.

I sigh inwardly as the teacher searches for yet another student to try to answer the question. I know the answer of course, Frederic was heart broken (and what kind of name is FREDERIC anyway? It's a pansy name, that's what it is) after Mary dumped his sorry ass because she's too absorbed with her own problems to even give her a chance. She's trying to find the right man, and yet he's right in front of her. I'm sorry, but this question is JUST too easy.

"Yes, Roxas, can YOU answer the question?" Mrs. Ursula looks at the blonde haired boy with obvious distaste.

The teacher's hair is too dark, and she has way to much eye make up on. Her hair is long and braided into thick shafts of swirling strands, almost like tentacles. Not to mention her skin tone, a cross between too-pale white and murky purple.

"Frederic was kind of sad and…," Roxas pauses, thinking, most likely over analyzing the situation. "Heart broken, yeah, that's the word I'm looking or. He was heart broken because Mary was being," _selfish_, "a little self absorbed." _'Well, at least he didn't steal ALL of my answers.'_

"Very good _student_," she moves away from Roxas' desk, her body reminding me a little too much of a giant squid.

"Ah, Miss Sakura, how many chapters have you read of the book?" she asks, coming to a stop in front of my desk.

'_All of them,' _"Seven," I don't want to look like a geek-wad. After all, I may be Goth, but I've got the curves of a cheer leader.

"Very good Miss…" she squints down at her student list, "Moe-van…is that how you pronounce your name?" she asks, her black lip-stick covered lips smacking together. She's revolting, positively revolting.

"Um…no…? It's Mohan."

"Yes, right, Moe-van."

"I said—"just then the bell rings, cutting off my train of thought. I look up at the ceiling angrily, but that feeling evaporates as I realize "I'M FREE!" I screech, flying from my desk and out the door before my class mates can blink or even raise an eye brow.

I skip my way over to lunch, examining my black nails. I stop by my locker, opening it quickly and tossing the book "Relationships of the Rocky Variety" into the only space that belongs to me in this stupid high school. I miss my dorm rooms!

I close my locker and turn, ready to resume my pilgrimage to the holy grounds of the cafeteria. As I turn I find two pairs of eyes, staring directly into mine. I jump back with a cry, my arm coming up defensively, in a couple seconds my fist makes contact with something—a face?—and the offender falls to the ground.

It takes me a second to realize that the "offender" was a girl, and that I did indeed hit her. Whoops.

"Ouch…" the girl says, rubbing her nose, small tears prickling at her eyes.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" I grab her arms and hoist her to her feet. "I didn't realize it was just you…but who are you?"

"I'm Selphie, and you must be the new Sakura girl," she says with a dazed sort of expression. She's wearing a short-short skirt, with high heels and an extremely tacky pairs of sunglasses.

"I'm sorry I hit you…" I begin, but she holds up a hand to stop me.

"Oh, its fine, people are always knocking me over. I'm so clumsy," she laughs a musical laugh. I laugh with her, and in a couple seconds were both cracking up, holding our stomachs.

"Selphie?" a new voice comes; my new friend and I both turn to see who it is. One look and I know, it is none other then the fabulously cooperative pain-in-mine-and-Riku's-asses Kairi.

The red head says hi to Selphie and the other girl dives into a long drawn out explanation about what happened to her at the mall yesterday. I resist the urge to roll my eyes in utter contempt, great, I ran into the gossip queen. I try to make my escape, but Kairi stops me with a firm grip on my arm. "Wait, I need to ask you something," she says, holding me hostage.

"What?"

"You and Sakura know each other?" Selphie asks, one of her eye brows rising.

"Yeah, she came back when Riku did," Kairi says, not looking away from my face. I want so badly to get away from the girl; the way she's holding me is scary. Her grip is so tight that it hurts, and her eyes are burning holes in my face.

"What's this about?" I ask, trying to shake off her grip weakly. My attempt is in vain though, she holds on steadfast.

"You went to Sora's last night?" Kairi asks suspiciously as Selphie's other eye brow rises so far up that you can't even see it behind her hair.

"Yes, to visit Riku…" Kairi's face suddenly glows red; oh crap, Sakura; THAT was the wrong thing to say. Okay, okay…must. Think. Of. Something. To. Say.

"To visit…Riku…" Kairi's teeth are pressed tightly together, her cheeks growing redder and redder.

"Oh crap," Selphie sighs, looking around at the empty halls. "You're in trouble…" she murmurs to no one in particular. But I know that it's directed at me. I'M IN TROUBLE!!!

"Why did you need to visit Riku?"

"Why does it matter?" I say bitterly, "It's not like I accomplished what I needed too."

"What—"

"Kairi!" Selphie interrupts; her eyes as large as dinner plates. "_He's_ coming!"

"No!" Kairi spins around, and none other then Sora, cute, optimistic little Sora comes around the corner. Kari's eyes bug out and she high tails it out of there, dragging Selphie behind her. I watch the two girls go, and I hear Selphie's voice drift back to me:  
"See you around Sakura!"

"See you…" I whisper, just as Sora comes to stand in front of me. I notice how his eyes wonder over my body for a _little _to long.

"Hi Sakura…" he says finally, his eyes settling on my own. I stare back into those sea blue irises. I notice how muscular his arms are, as though he's been working out, his cheeks are nice and round, and his skin is delicately soft.

And of course there's "the look". The look he's been giving me ever since Kairi started avoiding him.

Oh god…does Sora like me?

**-Sora-**

Sakura's eyes are brown, I notice, so is her skin, soft, delicate and completely sensual. My mouth starts to water, and my gaze won't stop wandering to certain places. Her outfit is kind of revealing…

I try to shake my head of those thoughts, try to dislodge them.

I like Kairi…no…I love her. But now she's avoiding me, ever since we got back to school on Monday, she's been hiding from me. Where ever I am, she isn't. Whenever I'm around, she runs. You know how I can tell? Well, when I enter a room, I swear I can see a slash of red hair fly around a corner.

"So…how's Kairi?" I ask.

"Completely psycho," she murmurs to herself.

"What?" I ask, admiring her legs while she's distracted.

"Oh, it's nothing," she smiles, and I feel my heart start to beat faster. I feel my arms start to shake, and my legs turn to useless, wobbly sticks.

Her smile is captivating.

"Oh, okay," I try to sound aloof, like Riku. I fail.

"What's wrong?" she asks suddenly, her eyes burrowing into mine.

"What do you think?" I snap, a small amount of pent up anger escaping from me. I expect to see hurt, emotional pain on her face…but there's nothing of the sort.

All I see is sympathy.

"Kairi still isn't talking to you," it isn't a question.

I shake my head in answer anyway, and she steps forward, hugging me to her. "I'm so, so sorry Sora," there's that sympathy again, but there's something beneath her gaze. A strange deviousness that glows and thrives throughout her body, I wonder what she's thinking, what she's feeling.

She lets go of me, and steps back.

"Sorry about that, didn't mean to alienate you," she laughs half-heartedly. "Anyway, I guess I'll let you get to lunch…we're in the same period right?

"R-right."

"Wanna walk to lunch together? I can't find Namine' anywhere."

I start to answer yes; I start to tell her that I'd love to walk with her. But the words don't come, different words form, words that shouldn't make sense. "N-nah…I…need to wait for Roxas."

"Okay," she says, "that's fine. See you at lunch." A second later she's gone, walking towards the cafeteria. I listen for her retreating foot steps, than I close my eyes and slide down to the floor, hugging my knees to my chest.

There are sounds, noises all around me as students make their way to the lunch room. Some time later, Roxas comes, his blue eyes staring down at me.

"What's wrong?"

"I-I think I'm…falling for Sakura."

**-Riku-**

I'm practically asleep as my head bangs against the cafeteria table.

"Aw…" I moan, treasuring the sweet peace. The noises and clamors all around become a lullaby, the sound of banging pans and screaming teapots (our lunch lady likes to drink Jasmine).

Just as I'm about to float off into blissful sleep, two people plop down to the right and left of me, and launch into a lengthy conversation about blitz ball…

"—so I kicked the ball to Selphie, and she passed it to Sora, and then Sora scored with this kick ass move—"the boy has spiky brown hair (almost like Sora's).

"Wadda ya mean by 'kick ass move' mon? What did he do?" the other boy asks, he has a shock of red hair that sticks almost straight up, as well as a sort of Jamaican accent.

"Well what he did was—"the boy begins again.

This time it's me who interrupt, "God shut up! I'm SOOOOOO tired of all this mindless teenage banter!" I rant, than suddenly I recognize who the two people are, and my mouth gapes. "Tidus? Wakka? Is that you?"

"Do we know you dude?" Tidus asks, then, a couple seconds later: "RIKU???"

"Riku?" then Wakka realizes it as well. "I can't believe it mon, when did YOU get back?"

"Last Saturday."

More people parade their way to our table. I notice Selphie, then Kairi and Sakura. Sakura is avoiding my eyes as she sits down with her tray, she gazes instead at her food.

Kairi stares at me intently, especially at my hair. I've seen it a million times before, the old "Riku's shiny hair trap". The girls can't look away…it works every time, cause' my hair's so shiny.

"So, are you having fun at school?" Kairi asks me, her eyes fluttering like a bad cartoon sweet heart. What is WRONG with her today?

"No," I answer truthfully. "It's kind of tiring."

Her lips turn down into a mock frown, as if she's trying to make displeasure look cute.

I swallow uncomfortably under her gaze, and I can feel a blush crawling up my neck for some reason. Funny, I haven't blushed in YEARS.

She finally replies, her lips rolling away from her teeth, "Maybe you need a…_distraction_." The flirty tone behind her voice makes me want to gag. I mean, this is _Kairi _we're talking about, THE Kairi, best friend/ex-girlfriend. We've known each other for so long…but this hormonal explosion that's going on right now…it's just not right.

And she's dating Sora.

Or is she? The happy couple had words after all…sure the words "I don't want to date you anymore" or "Get the hell away from me you ass!" were never used, but maybe they were hidden under certain contexts. What if she meant to break up with him, but it was too hard to say?

But the worst part is; I'm starting to enjoy it. I'm taking a strange pleasure from the flirty-ness, the odd seductions and sexy glances. I'm enjoying it all.

And Sora's heart is broken.

I shake my head at her, a silent warning for her to stop. But she can't take the hint, she doesn't care that I'm immune to her hotness. She doesn't care that I have no interest in her except of the friendship variety. She knows I enjoy it, that I get a twisted sense of pleasure from her groveling. She clings on to that enjoyment, she feeds on it. That feeling is what keeps her going, that sincere belief that deep down, I want to kiss her and touch her and make her all mine.

Maybe I do want all those things.

Maybe I don't.

I sigh, confusion seeping into my mind.

"So…" Wakka says slowly, "have you seen the new mythology teacher?"

"No," everyone says. Everyone except Tidus, he says that he's seen her, and that she's drop dead gorgeous.

"You haven't heard the best of it mon," Wakka begins to grin like an idiot. "She's like "queen of the night"; she's got de sexy-Goth vibe."

"Hey!" Sakura cuts in, "That's MY vibe!"

"What's her name?" I ask.

"Mrs. Lulu, she doesn't like people to call her by her last name," Tidus says.

I try to imagine a gothic queen, no a princess, Sakura's the queen. Okay, I try to imagine a gothic princess as a mythology teacher. I fail.

Sakura is grinning from ear to ear, there's no doubt that she can't wait until mythology class.

I sigh, admiring Sakura. It's so complicated, this strange 'enjoyment' for Kairi, and the hidden feelings of lust and warm love for Sakura. I'm so, SO confused.

I search my mind through all of the conversations I've shared with Sakura, reviewing each and every word, all of the body languages. Basically, I search for any sign or clue as to her motives. Does she like me? Does she think I'm a good friend? Does she like…SORA?

I remember the out fit she wore at Sora's house. Oh god, oh god…she likes SORA!!!

Oh god, oh god, oh god!!!

**-After School…-**

**-Sakura-**

I stare at my ceiling, high heeled shoes disposed of, a look of complete and utter fear on my face. Yes, I, the almighty Sakura, am afraid. Why am I afraid? Because Riku has not made a move, not even a hint as to what his feelings are for me. Yes, confusion has a name, and it is Sakura.

I sigh deeply, chewing my way through yet ANOTHER Hershey bar. It's a sad day when the sexy enchantress (a.k.a. ME) is reduced to a shivering mess of anxiety. I mean, guys COME to me. I don't WAIT for them

That's when the idea finally comes. What if I make the first move? He wouldn't see it coming, I would finally find out what his feelings for me are, it's the perfect solution.

At the speed of light I fly off my bed. The closet is the first victim; I fling clothes out of it like a mad woman. It takes five seconds to find the dress of choice; a strapless number, exposing plenty of my legs and shoulders, and pulling off the scandalous "little black dress" affair.

The shoes take little time too; I take the same "practically knee high" heel boots. I don't grab the tight leather gloves, preferring to show off my new manicure. I inspect my teeth, to check for anything out of the ordinary (crooked-ness, yellow tinges, food between the teeth…)

Giving my body, outfit, and teeth the okay I make my way towards the door. That's when I notice what time it is.

10:30.

Should I really visit him? I mean…where are my manners?

'_To hell with manners…' _I decide.

I turn to knob, _'Oh crap, what if I wake Namine'? She won't approve of this...late night visit.'_

I turn to the window, grinning evilly.

Moments later I'm in my car, starting the engine, and driving away as quietly as I can. This is going to be fun…

**-Riku-**

It's practically 11:15 when my eyes shoot open. Did I hear something? Is someone trying to break in?

I start to get up, but think better of it. I strain my ears to hear the intruder. I hear…nothing.

I try harder.

There's still no noise!

I sigh, placing my head back against the pillow, dismissing the noise as a dream. The darkness closes over me and I start to fall into blissful…

A knocking sound enters my room, ringing in my ears like thousands of church bells. What the hell?

I shift my gaze to the window—that's definitely where it came from—I see a dark form outside, a silhouette against the moon.

I make my way over to the figure, clad in only a pair of embarrassing Valentines Day boxers. My chest looks eerie against the light of the moon, too pale, like a vampire.

I open the window with a crash, expecting to see Sora in tears, wanting me to comfort him after a mean phone call from Kairi. But no, it isn't Sora I see behind that window, it's Sakura.

No sooner after I step back, she jumps in, smiling vibrantly. And all I can do is stare; all of the words I'd conjured for JUST this occasion are gone.

"Riku…?" she finally asks, after my infinite silence. "Are you all right?"

"Y-yeah…um…why are you here?" I ask finally.

"Oh…I just, um…" she seams to search for something to say, but she has become as speechless as me. For a moment we just stare, gazing into the others eyes with complete and utter fear.

But my fear dissipates, for I find comfort in her large brown irises. I find magic under her gaze, and hope in her smile.

"Riku—"I interrupt her.

"Sakura," I pause, "Sakura…"

"Y-yes…?"

"I need to tell you something, something really important." She tries to answer, but I press on, not willing to let my new courage go away. "There are tons of things I want to say right now…tons of questions, but there was one question that was more important then all of the others. Do you know what that question was?"

The confident Sakura that I know and love is mysteriously absent; buried under this fear. It isn't fear for Sora and Kairi, not fear because of Xemnas, or his devilish intentions. It is fear for me, fear OF me. She is afraid of what I have to say, of my opinions and my thoughts.

"N-no…what is it Riku?" there's more emotions beneath her voice.

"I wanted to know how you felt about me," I say finally, forcing the words out, demanding that my bravado stay consistent. "I needed to know if you liked me…but know I know that it doesn't matter."

"It doesn't matter?" Sakura echoes incredulously.

"No…how ever you feel about me…it doesn't matter. Because your feelings won't change mine, my emotions can't be concurred by yours." Her gaze turns down to the floor; she believes I'm rejecting her. "I love you Sakura…" I whisper, which causes her head to rise with a snap, and her eyes to grow wide. "Ever since I met you I've felt this way." I take her hands in mine. "Do you feel that way…because if you don't…that's okay—"

I'm silenced by her lips, smashing into mine. We start apart, connected only by our lips. She quickly presses her body against my chest, her hand travels to the nape of my neck, and I hit the wall. It starts messy, uncertain and nervous…but it grows passionate, passionate and immortal.

She withdraws from my face, burying into my chest, "I love you, Riku," comes a muffled statement.

"I love you Sakura," and then I carry her, bridal style, to my bed. I sit her down, and straddle her between my legs.

I smile down on her, and let my lips touch hers. She is animalistic now, stroking my chest and driving into me feverishly.

I slip my tongue towards her closed lips, begging for entrance. She gives me what I want, all the while getting more and more confidence.

Her hand slips to the hem of my boxers, and I feel a fresh blush climb up my cheek. I mean, I'm confident that I have a nice package down there…but what if she's not into that? What if she likes small guys?  
Her gasp silences all of those thoughts, as she stares at my man hood, and then she smiles, a devilish smile. She presses her lips to mine one more time, before descending down my chest, licking, tasting, and sucking.

All the while I'm getting more and more into it.

"All mine…" she whispers, "You're all mine…"

**A/N HA! You thought I was going to do a full sex scene. You clearly don't know me very well. Anyway, I don't have much experience writing stuff like THAT. But I do like to describe kissing, so that's enough for me. Sorry if any of you think that this was to sudden…but you have to understand…Riku and Sakura are naturally attracted to each other, and neither of them know why.**

**So yes, I love my Sakura and Riku pairing, and yes, Sora and Kairi are having problems, and yes Axel is still trying to save Larxene.**

**And yes, there **_**will**_** be more teen angst in future chapters.**

**So, here's a preview of what's to come:**

**Roxas and Namine' fluff! Axel visits Larxene more and more, Roxas has a party…and Sora and Kairi witness an act so unspeakable, so undeniably dirty (yet disturbingly horny) that I can't even hint at it. So don't even ASK. But I can tell you it involves Roxas and Namine, and a two way mirror. **

**So yeah, look forward to that. And yes, that is the end to this excruciatingly long authors note.**


	9. Chapter 9: Invitation

**-Chapter 9: Invitation- **

The glare from the window is so bright, that I almost have to shield my eyes. Funny, I don't remember my window being THAT big. In fact…I don't even remember my room being this color. Am I having a severe case of amnesia?

I turn over in bed, noticing a heavy _something _beside me. Not only that, but I'm completely naked…and I feel warm. Warmer then I've felt in a long time.

"What's going on…?" I whisper to myself.

"S-sakura…?" the _something _says my name. But when he speaks it my name becomes something more then a word…it becomes a feeling…a lingering touch, an everlasting kiss. Hot and tingly, the name-emotion stirs and dances beneath my skin…it's like lust…except slightly different, more sensual and hope filled…

Is it love?

"Sakura?" the voice is clearer now, and I know who it is as the _something _turns over, revealing a shock of silver hair and vibrant green eyes…and a muscular chest…and a naked body beneath the covers.

"Oh my god RIKU!" I inch away, noticing how it's hard to look away from his eyes.

"What…?"

"We had sex!"

"Really?" he says sarcastically, "Is THAT what we were doing? I had no idea."

"This is serious!" I get up and try to grab my bra, which is conveniently located hanging from the fan, so that I have to stand on Riku's bed, my body completely naked, just to get it. And even then my fingers are just an inch short.

Riku rises to his feet, now revealing his full body. He presses himself against me and whispers into my ear with a seductive edge "Need some help…" he snatches my bra from the fan with no problem, and hands it to me.

I glare at him, but my glare quickly becomes a look of longing as I appraise his god-like form.

"Are you…" and suddenly the sexy façade drops away, showing a teenage boy who's afraid of being left alone. "Are you having regrets?"

"No," I shake my head, realizing that I DON'T have any regrets. In fact, any regret that I could possibly have is that I didn't do it sooner. "I loved last night. You're very talented…you know, for your first time that was unbelievable…" I suddenly have a horrible thought.

"You're not a virgin," it's not a question.

He answers it anyway, "No."

"Who was your first time?"

He blushes, "I don't think I want to tell you…" but my glare silences me, and he instantly changes tact. "Kairi."

"You did it with Kairi?"

"Yeah, but you were better…far better then before."

"Aw, that's so sweet!" I say, placing a hand on his bare chest and stroking down ever so softly…

**-Roxas-**

I yawn, getting out of bed.

'_Huh…it's four in the morning…' _I muse, _'why the hell am I up?'_

Outside I can hear jack hammers, shouting…basically, construction workers. Crap, now I'll never get back to sleep. I sigh again.

I notice the computer, its screen glows a slight shade of blue.

"I wonder who's on…"

**SeaSalt has signed on.**

**SeaSalt: Anybody there?**

**Burn-down-the-tree: Hey Rox **

**SeaSalt: Hey Ax**

**Burn-down-the-tree: What's up with the one word sentences?**

**SeaSalt: Who knows…so, how are things with HIM?**

I wait patiently for the reply, knowing that it won't be as immediate as the others. You see, Axel likes to think things through when it comes to his answers to important questions. He's debating whether to lie to me to make me worry less, or to drop the bomb shells on me.

**Burn-down-the-tree: Not good. X has Larx, and she has to act like she's his GF just so he won't kill her. While all this is going on I'm stuck here doing NOTHING. **

**SeaSalt: …**

**Burn-down-the-tree: Don't … me.**

**SeaSalt: Sorry, it's not your fault Ax. Larx chose to stay with X.**

**Burn-down-the-tree: What's that supposed to mean?**

**SeaSalt: I'm just saying. What if you weren't meant to save her?**

**Burn-down-the-tree: I can't live without her Rox. She's like, all I ever want. She makes me feel like I do when shit's on fire. I feel all…warm…but if I get to close I burn myself. You can't hug fire, you can't kiss fire…but Larx can do all of those things. She makes me feel like I'm kissing fire. **

**SeaSalt: Dude. That's deep.**

**Burn-down-the-tree: Imagine me rolling my eyes…**

**SeaSalt: You're supposed to do (rolls eyes) not Imagine me rolling my eyes. **

The image of Axel fuming in my mind appears, and all I can do is smile. My best friend just compared romance with "burning shit down". Something's wrong with that.

**Burn-down-the-tree: I have to go.**

**SeaSalt: Why? School's not for like…hours. **

**Burn-down-the-tree: Because everyone knows I love school…**

**SeaSalt: lo freaking l. **

**Burn-down-the-tree: I think…I just need to think about stuff.**

**SeaSalt: I haven't seen you at all lately Ax, you're like a stranger lately.**

**Burn-down-the-tree: G2G**

**Burn-down-the-tree has singed off**

I sigh loudly and obnoxiously, no progress on Axel. He hasn't been himself AT ALL lately. What am I supposed to do, watch him destroy himself from the inside out for some girl?

And even if I could do that…there's the added bonus of Xemnas. The only reason Axel hasn't been killed yet is because of his money…and even then, when Xemnas gets annoyed enough he's going to take Axel down.

How can I just sit by and watch him DO THIS to himself?

I fall back on my bed, once again exhausted. I curl into a ball on my bed, shivering in the cold. Then it comes…a solution. For years my friends and I have stuck together, through all the bad times and the lonely times…if I can just get us back together then everything will be better.

It's a foolish hope, but one I must cling to. Without it…all hope is lost.

**-Riku-**

**(Destiny High 10:40 P.M. Mythology Class) **

"There are many complex myths these days," Ms. Lulu says, her eerie almost red eyes glowing in the dark. She's turned off the lights because she's showing us a bunch of ancient illustrations and slides on the overhead.

The teacher's voice is oddly emotionless, emotionless and flat. She wears a long dress, made up of straps and black cloth.

"But one of the most ancient, most respected…most _magical _myth is that of Spira and Sin." I watch with fascination as she walks around the room, gazing at every single student individually.

Her eyes linger on Wakka, and I can see a smile on his face. "The legends say that there was once an ancient country called Spira, where they warred with ancient Makina, and eventually their constant treachery brought upon an ancient evil. They called it Sin, and it was all powerful. In one day it destroyed the many cities of Spira. All that remained was the Makina."

"Next time," Ms. Lulu continues, staring straight at Wakka once more, "we will discuss how the people fought against Sin, and if they did or did not lose."

She flicks on the lights and shuts off the overhead. "You may go," and just then the bell rings. Ms. Lulu smirks slightly, hinting at shiny white teeth.

Yes, the new mythology teacher is hot. And she's definitely the Gothic Princess.

Sakura meets me on the way out, and her eyes are shining. "She was so awesome! Oh my god I wish she was my mom!" The Goth queen jumps up and down excitedly. I watch her flailing arms wearily.

"Yeah, the lesson was fascinating too."

"Oh yeah, all that stuff about Spira and Sin…it was just so…amazing."

"Yeah," I curl my arms around her waist, smiling down at my raven haired beauty. Her vibrant eyes stare back up at me and all I can do is stand there, admiring her.

"Riku…" she whispers, placing a small kiss on my lips.

"Yes?" I ask, after she pulls away.

"I need to get to class—"

"YES THAT'S RIGHT GATHER ROUND FOLKS!" Sakura is cut off by the loud voice of Roxas. He's standing in the center of the hallway, amongst a crowd of curious teens. "Yes, that's right, I am throwing a party! And you're all invited!" Roxas tosses a barrage of party invitations.

Sakura strides forward, grabbing one of the invites off the ground.

"Wow. Sounds fun," I gaze at the slip of paper in her hands. There's a promise of a pool, music, drinks…basically everything you need to have a party.

"Huh."

"Huh," Sakura agrees.

"Should we go…?"

"Yes," she answers. "We have to go. This is Roxas' plan to get all our friends together. And besides, he needs me to add some Gothic flare."

**-Sora-**

"Kairi!" I yell, following the red head all the way to her next class. "C'mon, listen to me!" I'm practically begging her now. And still she marches on…paying me no attention.

"Please…"

She spins around, glaring at me. "No Sora. No. I'm not going to Roxas' stupid party with you; I don't want to see you…not now…not ever. We're over."

I gasp, staggering backwards, the words like a blow to the face.

"W-why? This whole fight is stupid! It's not even about anything big. I mean…why?"

"Sora…I just…I don't think I feel about you like I used to. There's something different about us now. I just…I just…" she pauses, and I can see her eyes fall to her feet. "I'm sorry. I hope we can still be friends." Her voice is in a monotone, it sounds unnatural. Kairi is like the mini-sun of our lives, she's always bright and shining…always bringing happiness to our lives. But this…hollowness…it's just not right.

"Kairi—"I grip her by the shoulders.

She whirls on me again. "No! Damn it Sora! I don't want anything more to do with you."

Kairi stalks off, leaving me holding nothing but air. All I can feel is my own breath, inhaling and exhaling through my lungs.

"But I love you…" I whisper. But there's no one there…no one there to hear me.

**A/N Oh my god! I am so sorry that this took so long. I've been facing a truck load of social stuff and writers block. Again, so sorry. **

**And there will be a special prize to the first person to guess where Ms. Lulu is from. They will get to ask me a single question through PM and I will answer it truthfully. Now, this doesn't seam like much…but you can ask me any question about the story. Any spoilers at all. You can even ask me about the sequel to this (which I'm just now telling you about) called Livid Love. I think it fits well with the others (i.e. Double Date and Rocky Relationships).**

**Oh and I'm also really sorry about the lack of Namine' lately. I know it seams like I'm pushing her to the side and ignoring her…well…I'm TRYING to avoid that.**

**NEXT TIME on ROCKY RELATIONSHIPS: Everyone attends Roxas' party, and shocking revelations are made. Axel makes a surprise visit to Larxene. And Roxas and Namine have a major fluff explosion that I hope makes up for the "incomplete sex scene" of chapter eight.**


	10. Chapter 10: Don't Tell Xemnas

**-Chapter 10: Don't Tell Xemnas...-**

Oddly enough, this isn't the stupidest thing I've ever done. I mean, there was that time I lit the school nurse's desk on fire…or that time when I jumped off the roof because I was bored. But then again, this is pretty stupid. I mean, sneaking to Xemnas' house to see Larxene…AGAIN?

I crawl towards HIS house, one hand pressed against my hair to hold it down and better conceal myself. I reach up and open the door (Xemnas doesn't believe that anyone would have the nerve to rob him).

I get to my feet after entering; desperately hoping that Xemnas isn't here.

"What are you DOING here?" a voice explodes behind me. I turn to see Larxene; her blonde hair pulled back, a bathrobe strung around her body. I try not to lose myself in her eyes and her hair; I try to cling to the natural fire, instead of her happier, more fulfilling version of the burning force.

"I came to visit you."

"But I told you not to come," I silence her with a kiss, smashing our lips together, deepening the kiss…our emotions dancing all around us.

She finally steps back, blushing slightly. "Y-you should go…if Xemnas finds out—"

"Xemnas won't find out as long as you don't tell him," I assure her, "Don't tell Xemnas, got it memorized?"

"Yeah…but you should really stop saying that," she smiles up at me, and small tears begin to fall down her face.

"What's wrong?" I ask, worried. My usual aloof voice becomes riddled with concern.

"I'm just…worried about you," she gasps, "there's so much that can go wrong—"

I pull her into a kiss again, exploring her mouth with my tongue. "We have…nothing…to…worry…about," I say, in between kisses, "there's nothing…he…can…do to us…the…universe wants us…together."

She pulls back again, resting on my chest. "Yeah, maybe you're right…our relationship does seam a bit…enchanted. I just wish I knew what was going to happen next."

"Don't worry," I tell her, wrapping strong arms around her body, "I'll protect you."

**-Namine-**

Roxas stares at me as I draw.

We're in the middle of art class. Our teacher, Miss God Mother (and yes, that IS her real name), is always letting us have class outside; A rare treat for most teachers, but a weekly routine for us. The plump woman walks around, helping the students who just can't draw the flower pot she has sitting on the grass.

And still Roxas watches me.

I set down my pencil with a sigh.

"What is it?" I ask him, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh nothing, just watching the artist at work," he grins at me, finally sitting down and leaning his head into my shoulder. I smile at the physical contact; it's so refreshing to have a "significant other".

I laugh a little, before going back to work, carefully drawing in small details into the picture…

"What're you doing?"

"_Trying _to draw," I say, clenching my teeth. There's a fine line between sweet and annoyingly loveable.

"Oh okay," he sits down again in front of me, crossing his legs Indian-style. "So, you're coming to my party right? Cause' if you're not it really isn't worth having."

"_Yes _Roxas, I'm _definitely _coming. So stop asking me please," I tell him, smiling despite myself. I swear; Roxas has no faith in our love at all sometimes.

"Good." As he examines something in the tree behind me the sun glistens in his blonde hair, practically setting it on fire. His skin becomes almost luminous.

"DON'T MOVE!"

"What?"

I flip through my sketch book to a blank piece of paper hurriedly. My pencil starts to work on its own, quickly tracing the lines of Roxas' face, scaling down his slowly forming body…

"Can I move yet…?"

"NO!" I work faster, unable to stop myself as grass takes shape around drawing-Roxas' form.

"Am I becoming a model?" Roxas asks, eyes widening.

"Yes," I say; my voice softening as I add the delicate details of Roxas' eyes and mouth. There's a subtle pout to his lips, a pout that I just can't resist smiling at.

And just like that, Destiny is all around him again, glistening and flowing through is hair, under his arms, around his waist. The magic of fate is ever powerful, making the boy strangely beautiful, yet undeniably handsome.

"Oh wow, can we do an underwear shot next?" he asks, half jokingly. I look up at him with a menacing smile.

**-Two Hours Later- **

Most of us are at the lunch table—Roxas, Kairi, Wakka, and Tidus and Selphie—and I'm still drawing Roxas. I demanded that the blonde boy sit cross legged on the table top. He plops back down on the bench whenever a teacher comes by.

"Okay…almost…done."

Everyone is staring at me eagerly.

"Okay…DONE!" I present the finished picture to my friends, and I can taste Destiny, flowing in all the colors, sailing across the pencil marks…

**-Roxas- **

I stare at Namine's sketch with amazed eyes. Detail is all over it, a perfect example of paper and pencil perfection. It looks exactly like me; my hair is curved in all the right places, my eyes shine from an imaginary sun…

"Namine'…it's amazing."

"You think so," her eyes get big.

"Yeah, I want to do the modeling thing again!"

"Oh good," Namine' smiles mischievously, "maybe you can come by my house and do some…_nude _modeling." She winks at me as a huge grin and fiery blush grace my face.

"I'd be honored to have you draw my sexy man flesh," my friends' mouths drop open almost at the exact same time.

**-Riku-**

Sakura is on her way to lunch, but she stops immediately at the sight of me.

"Hello Riku," she says, smiling vibrantly.

"Hey Sakura!"

"Do you want to walk me to lunch; I could use some decent boyfriend time."

"Of course; I live to serve—"

"Riku!!!" someone whines behind me. I turn to see Sora, his eyes expanded into a puppy dog pout. "I need you to help me now!!"

"Sora, I have to walk Sakura to lunch."

"Oh, so you're going to choose some chick over me; your best friend since kindergarten?"

I sigh, throwing an apologetic look at Sakura.

"Okay," Sakura's eyes are blazing as she glares at Sora. She's not the type to be called a "chick".

Sakura turns and walks away, leaving Sora and I alone.

"How you holding up?" I ask.

"How do you think?" he asks, angrily. "My best friend thinks his _girlfriend _is more important then me, Kairi dumped me, Xemnas is on the fucking war path, and Roxas has the _perfect _relationship…and I…I just—" he bites his lip, most likely to stop it from trembling.

"Sora…look…I know you feel crappy, and I wish I could help…"

"But you can't can you? You think you're SO perfect with your stupid silver hair and you're fucking hot girlfriend…god why does this stuff always happen to me? I've been nice. I've been respectful, I've done EVERYTHING! And what do I get?A freaking, broken ass heart!"

"S-Sora," I can see hurt in his eyes…and maybe even hate. I can see it all, darkness and hatred and disgust. He honestly thinks that I'd put a girl before him…but then, haven't I? While I should have been helping Sora I was to busy sexing up Sakura…while I should've been talking it out with Kairi I was to busy flirting up a storm. What kind of friend am I?

"Just go," he whispers fiercely.

"Alright," I jog away, not wanting him to see how hurt I am. I'm experiencing GUILT for feeling this way. I SHOULD be hurting, for all the pain I've caused Sora.

But there's no time to talk to him, no time to have a heart to heart to Kairi. There's no time for anything…we're all too busy, we're too busy falling into this trap, this trap of hoping. We hope that things will get better, that this Xemnas thing will blow over, that Sora and Kairi will get back together and love each other. But the reality is…that things don't just magically happen. We have to work at them, and boy this situation is going to take a LOT of work.

**A/N (Gasp!) I know you all probably think that Sora is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY out of character. But you have to understand, Sora is usually my comic relief, my sweet escape from the "Dark Side" of this story. But Sora and the Dark Side are merging, becoming one whole as he slowly gets more and more heart broken. How much more can Sora stand? Will Riku fix everything? What will Axel do? Find out… **

**Next time on ROCKY RELATIONSHIPS: The Party!**


	11. Chapter 11: The Party

**A/N Dedicated to ****lebrezie91210****; you know why!**

**-Chapter 11: The Party-**

Riku's holding my hand, which is a treat all in itself. My silver haired boyfriend is taking quick strides to Roxas' house, where the party has already begun.

As much as I want to cling on to the hope that we'll be together a long time, that we'll be married and have kids…that's _just_ not my Destiny. I'm the enchantress. The bad Goth-Witch in the story…the witch is never happy; the enchantress can never be loved without the use of her spells.

My spells are my looks, my eyes; my voice…everything about me attracts males. But they all get tiring, boring, and useless.

And then I abandon them. I watch as they walk away, and then I see them a week later with a poor innocent girl sandwiched between their bodies and the cold metal of the lockers. I watch as the once-inexperienced boy kisses the women fiercely, and I feel hate twist inside me. The boy wouldn't even know HOW to use his tongue if it wasn't for me.

Yet here he is, abusing a girl's innocence, changing her from a strong person to whimpering pile of ecstasy. How unfair IS the world?

The point is…that Riku won't last. I've accepted this. He's just another victim of this enchantment. Most people think that there's a ONE; a single person that you were meant to be with, that you were _born _to be with. But that person doesn't exist for me; there is only an endless line of flings and meaningless one-night-stands.

"Finally…" Riku sighs as we reach Roxas' front door. I can see Kairi's car (Selphie most likely rode with her), Sora's, Namine's, and Axel's. There are other cars to; I can tell that practically everyone from school is here.

Tidus opens the door after we knock, a huge smile plastered on his face. "You guys are here! Great, we've been waiting!"

"Sorry," I apologize, "I couldn't figure out what to wear." I'm clothed in a little-black-dress, and fishnets.

Tidus' eyes wander over me, and his grin only gets bigger, "Its okay. Have fun, food and punch are everywhere. Enjoy!"

The blitz ball player runs off.

Music explodes into my ears, and I can feel my body start to twitch. Yeah…I have this other problem, besides the manipulation…I'm a dance-addict…and I can't stop myself once I hear a beat.

"R-riku…?" I ask, my legs forcing me over to a crowd of dancing teens, all circling each other, for Roxas' Destiny Islands home is huge. The furniture has been removed from the living room, leaving room for dancers.

Dancers like me.

"BYE RIKU!!" I scream, spinning my way into the fray.

**-Riku-**

Well. That was odd. "Bye Sakura."

All I hear is the sound of gasps, as people withdraw, giving the beautiful brunette her space. They watch in awe as her body spins and gestures.

I shake my head, grinning as I make my way up the stairs. I see Wakka flexing his muscles in front of Tidus "You want to go up against this, ya?"

"That's nothing," he holds up his biceps. "Do you SEE this action?"

I roll my eyes, smiling to myself as I walk by.

I've reached the banister, as I stare down into the crowd of dancers I see Roxas, showing Namine' a good time. He shows the blonde all of his moves.

I see Sora off to the side, amusing girls with his lack of skills.

Selphie is showing everyone her wild side. "Hey Riku!" someone says behind me. I turn to see Pence, from Twilight town, taking pictures of the crowd.

"Where'd you come from stranger?"

"Hayner, Olette and I came to party. Roxas knows how to throw a bash. You should've seen what he did for Hayner's birthday…"

"Where are the other two?" I ask.

"Oh…around…probably flirting up a storm somewhere."

"Are they dating?" I ask, curiously.

"Yes," he replies, "for a month now. They've been inseparable."

I think back to the few times I'd seen the two, to when they'd look into each other's eyes and, for a moment, be lost. I remembered how Hayner would look at Olette's ass if the opportunity _ever_ presented itself.

"A lot's happened…"

"Yeah," Pence agrees, "we've all changed. Hayner was a bit distant after Roxas left. So Olette spent some time with him and well…that's that."

"That's it?"

"Well…it's actually a pretty funny story, you see—"

The song suddenly changes, to something far more upbeat then before. Pence's words are cut off. I notice Sora, leaving the dance floor…and then I see Kairi and Roxas, getting punch. And Sora is heading right for them.

"Oh no…"

**-Roxas-**

"Hey Nam? I'm going to get some punch okay," my girlfriend nods, she flips a lock of hair over one ear.

I turn towards the punch bowl, where Kairi is. I stand beside her, chugging down two cups of punch. This is the best party EVER.

"Hi Roxas," Kairi says, sighing as punch slides down her throat.

"Hey," I say, smiling. "Having fun?"

"Yes…as much as possible at the moment…" she sighs, her good mood gone. This whole "not being with Sora thing" isn't good for her. I must have some kind of frown on my face because she turns back to me and smiles a weak smile. "I'm sorry I'm like that…my mind's in a funk."

"Try dancing. That always clears MY funk."

"Maybe. I just hope I don't have to see…talk to…or acknowledge the existence of Sora."

I find myself biting back a sharp retort. Hearing her talk about my cousin like that just isn't right. I shake it off with a quick smile, there and gone in a second. "You should talk to him."

"Why? So he can fuck up our friendship even more?" there's bitterness in her voice, cold and scaling. The Destiny in the air fades away, becoming gray and boring. The energy that had crackled all around me fades…and I find myself lost in the tragedy that is Kairi and Sora's current love lives.

"You should talk to him. Friendship or not. What you two have right now is NOT friendly, nor is it romantic," I calmly inform her that she's full of shit. "What you're doing is killing the mood. And I hate mood killers. So, if you don't want to make this better then get the hell out of my party." I smile at her gaping mouth. "Sora's coming this way. Your perfect chance!" Kairi turns with wide eyes, and before she can move I push her in Sora's direction.  
I leave without a second thought.

**-Sora-**

She's there. Her hair red like fire. There's a frown on her face. Of course…that frown is always there when I'm around. What is it with her?

"Kairi!" I say, stepping towards her.

"What?" her voice is harsh at first, but then it changes direction mid-sentence, "W-what is it?" Now she sounds sweet. And that's a little strange.

"I…I wanted to talk to you," I'd come to tell her to get a new friend. To tell her that I never wanted to see her again and that we no longer had a friendship. Crap, I'd even tell her to screw herself. But none of these words come, none of the angry sentences and harsh statements appear. All that's left is a mess of stuttering and lust.

On one side of my mind is Kairi, stunning…sweet…and then Sakura, dark…mysterious…and exciting. Do I really want to TALK to Kairi? Do I want to kiss her? Do I feel differently now…do I want to stab my tongue into Sakura's mouth?

"About what?" her smile looks forced now.

"A-about us…" oh, _that _was smooth.

"Us? Well, I think our friendships fine…"

"Not that 'us'."

"Then…I guess…there is no us."

"But Kairi—"

"Sora…I told you. I don't want to talk anymore; don't want to scream at you. I don't want to kiss you or have sex with you or whatever it is that you want me to do. There is no us, and there won't _be_ an _us_ ever again."

"How can you be sure?" I ask.

She hangs her head in defeat. "Look…I just don't want to talk."

**-Sakura-**

I start to get tired, smiling as I turn around and stroll into the kitchen, where there's another punch bowl, and tons of snacks. I chew away at chips and grab for the punch.

"I've got some cups pre-filled," a voice says, I turn to see a boy. He wears camouflage pants and his blonde hair is spiked up. "Here," he offers me a cup.

"Oh…okay," I grab the cup. I drink it down, slowly…then faster and faster. I practically inhale it.

Oh no.

"You spiked the punch," I say. It wasn't a question.

"Oh yeah," he grins, honestly proud of himself. Doesn't he know that when I drink I drink EVERYTHING? "Good prank huh?"

I nod, feeling a buzz build up inside me. "Bring me another," he looks at me confused.

"Why—?"

"Do it."

He complies, grabbing more of the spiked punch and handing it too me. I examine it with bright eyes. "Why thank you. This should be nice." I drink it down and demand another. And another…and another…and another…

**-Roxas-**

I make my way back towards Namine but someone intercepts me.

I slam into somebody's chest. I look up, the person is clothed all in black, and the moment I see his face I know who he is.

"Vexen?" his hair is a long and sickly brown. His skin is an almost bleached white; just like I remember him.

"Ah…Roxas," the junior scientist's eyes glare down at me, "it's been too long."

"What the hell are you doing here?" I back away slowly, looking for a weapon, and desperately hoping that he doesn't try anything. That would ruin the party, and my entire plan.

"Oh, nothing much, just visiting," the creepy 20 year old flashes me something between a smile, a smirk, and a snarl. "But…I do have a message to give."

"Of_ course _you do."

"Xemnas wishes for me to tell you something, and it's not another request for you to join us again. No, the master has given up on that foolish dream. He wants you to know, that something big is about to happen, a breakthrough in our mission…and he doesn't want any interference from you."

"What kind of interference?"

"Just…don't cause Xemnas any trouble; it'll be better for the both of you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You don't want to know," Vexen smiles sickeningly, "like I said, we're planning something big. And it would be appreciated if you don't interfere." His smirk widens as he looks at my face, "Think on that."

I start to say something, but he's already gone, fading into the crowd. I turn around, noticing Axel staring down at me from the stair way. His eyes are questioning.

_Not now, _I mouth. I went to all this effort to get my friends together, and I'm not going to let this ruin it.

I make my way over to Namine, who is entertaining herself with a girl I know. Her hair is brown and she's wearing an orange shirt with a flowery Hawaiian style design.

"Olette?!"

"Roxas!" she gasps, turning to me. Namine smiles and turns to me as well.

"How do you two know each other?"

"We were good friends before I moved to The Islands."

"Have you been doing your homework like you promised?" the girl says, a hand on her hip, but the smile is still there.

"Yes, Olette," I grin.

Namine smiles again, and I find myself completely cut off from the world around me. The dancers fade away; the music becomes soft and insignificant as Olette becomes an orange storm of fiery Destiny. Hawaiian flowers are woven throughout the fire storm…but even she is nothing compared to Namine, a complex explosion of carefully drawn pixels, dancing before his eyes. Her lips looked inviting…very inviting.

"Olette? Can you give Namine and I a moment or two alone?" my voice shatters the spell as Namine and Olette become normal people again, and the dancers dance back into my vision, and the music becomes loud and annoying.

"Sure," she winks at me, "don't party too hard, Roxas." Then she's gone.

Namine's smile widens. "What is it Roxas."

"I want to do something…something special," I approach her, lowering my lips to her ears, lowering my voice; "I want to make tonight…memorable."

"Something special…like what?" she asks innocently, but I know that she has some kind of idea. Oh god, I can't believe what I'm trying to ask.

"I-I…" it's not to late to back down, just shake your head and say "nothing". Okay? You can do that right? Right. Good…now just shake your head— "I want to do it!"

Her eyes widen "It?! IT, the important it, you want to do THAT it?"

Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god…she's going to REJECT ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"I…" this is it…this is how it ends, "okay. But…do you have a soundproof room or something…somewhere were no one will interrupt us?"

"Yeah, my room…I can lock the door!"

She smiles, and suddenly I see her eyes, lowering to my body, then back up to my face. "I…I…lets do it" I grab her hand and pull her into a quick, yet effective, kiss.

I pull her by the hand towards the stairs, a huge grin on my face. I've had to take care of my friends for a long time, I'm always the mild mannered one, and the one who has to sit by and watch everyone else have fun. I'm always the safe one, the one with the plan. But tonight…tonight I don't have a plan, tonight I'm just going to go with it; tonight…I'm going to be selfish.

**-Riku-**

Oh my god…what was she doing?

"Hello everyone!" there's a slur to her voice; a slight, only there if you squint, kind of slur. Sakura smiles her radiant smile, but her eyes are dim, devoid of their usual life. I can tell she's been drinking…they all have that dead eyed stare when they've been drinking.

"I'm going to sing a little song for you," she says, "its one of my FAVORITE ones. I just love, love, love it!" she sounds happy…too happy. There's a short silence, and all of the guys' eyes are on her. The music has stopped, for the DJ is gazing at her with huge eyes. "Hit it!" Sakura practically screams. She steps her way onto a nearby table, and you can hear a few shocked gasps from the audience, and muffled laughter.

It takes the DJ a minute, but he finally realizes what he's supposed to do. He clicks a series of buttons on his huge control pad.

A vaguely Spanish beat starts resounding from the speakers. A man's voice explodes into the song:

_Ladies up in here tonight; No fighting, no fighting. We got the refugees up in here; No fighting, no fighting…_

_Shakira, Shakira_

The song has picked up its beat, becoming faster, and Sakura is dancing, her hips swaying back and fourth. Her miniskirt is flying around, showing off her legs to every human being with a penis in the area. That's my Sakura. Those are MY legs.

_I never really knew that she could dance like this. She makes a man want to speak Spanish, Como se llama, bonita, mi casa, su casa_

_Shakira, Shakira_

Sakura's voice joins in, and I'm mesmerized. My small wave of jealousy evaporates, as I too am caught up in the amazing Sakura.

_Oh baby when you talk like that. You make a woman go mad; so be wise and keep on reading the signs of my body._

I fight off the feelings of love and complete serenity that are overwhelming my body. Sakura's voice makes this…weird song become something more. When she signs it…it's deep.

_And I'm on tonight. You know my hips don't lie; and I'm starting to feel it's right. All the attraction, the tension. Don't you see baby, this is perfection…_

**-Sora-**

"So is this what you're going to do? You're just going to dodge the question?" I'm desperate now, my heart is pounding so hard, and I feel like I'm about to have a seizure.

How can she do this to me? I'm her everything, her boyfriend…she said she loved me. Didn't she mean it?

People lie all the time, it's part of who we are…but you don't lie about loving someone. Either you do or don't there's no 'buts or maybes' there's only a yes or no.

Does she love me?

Does she hate me?

Would Sakura love me? If she ever broke up with Riku…would she love me?

"I'm leaving," she whispers, turning and moving towards the kitchen.

"No, you're going to talk to me!" I block the door way with my body. She looks at me with narrowed eyes.

"This is low, even for you."

"I just want to talk," her words hurt me, but I have to stay strong…I have to believe that she loves me.

"And I don't!" she whispers, before turning on her heel and descending up the stairs.

I've played this part to many times. I'm not going to watch her walk away again…I'm going to make this count. I gulp, following her.

"Kairi, wait!"

"No!" she says, hurriedly ducking into a bedroom, luckily, no ones making out in here.

I grab on to her arm, willing her to stop.

She shrugs me off. "NO!"

She turns to another door, a small door. She pulls it open and goes in. I follow her, and we find ourselves in an empty black room, with a single window. The window is round and small, about the size of a vanity mirror.

The door slams behind me, and I hear a definite click.

"What the hell?" she looks out the window.

Unusually, we don't see the night sky of the Islands, dotted with thousands and thousands of starts, like pinpricks of light.

No, on the other side of the window is a bedroom; it's filled with posters and has a computer in one corner. A huge shelf over flowing with books is in the closet, and clothes are strung all over the floor. Roxas' room.

"The two way mirror," I smile, looking at the window again. To anyone in the room it's an ordinary mirror, hanging on the wall. But it's really a two-way type thing, the kind that cops use. Roxas' parents hadn't known about it for a long time, and me and him would always use it to spy on them when they were having "grown up" discussions.

"A two way mirror…that's strange…" Kairi whispers. "Wait…is that Roxas?"

Sure enough my blonde cousin stumbles into the room, Namine is pushing him in, and her hands are fumbling with his shirt. I watch them, confused, my eyes not really processing what I'm seeing.

She lifts off his shirt, and he starts to slowly undo the strap on her dress, and there's a huge smile on his face. In his eyes I can see things…lust, love…desire.

"What're they—"Kairi begins, "OH MY GOD!"

**-Namine-**

Roxas isn't confident; I can see that, for he starts blushing every time I reveal a little more of the skin under his shirt. But then again, the same kind of blush graced my face when he lifted off my dress.

I was there, clad in only my underwear…and his fingers disposed of my bra pretty quickly. He leads a trail of kisses down my neck, setting me down on his bed.

I kiss him back, feverishly. I'm blushing furiously as he appraises my breasts. And I notice that he doesn't seam to be able to look away.

Somehow, my hands make it down to his pants, slowly unbuttoning and lowering them. His boxers are blue, with black stripes on them.

Oh my god…this is it!

**-Sora- **

"They're not…" Kairi says; her eyes wide. "THEY ARE!!"

I can't look away, my eyes dancing over Namine's legs.

Kairi moves to the door, but finds in locked. She turns back to me. "You know this is your fault right?"

"My fault? Who was it that had to _run off_? If you'd just stayed to talk we wouldn't _be _in this mess."

She gasps, "I can't believe you're saying this…" her sentence wanders off as she stares at something over my shoulder. I turn, seeing Roxas' boxers fall to the ground. Kairi practically screams, "EW! EW! EW!" she hops around in a circle, shaking her hands back and fourth, as if to dislodge something foul from her skin. "I saw Roxas'…I saw his…EWWWW!!!!!"

**-Roxas-**

I can't hear the music from in here, my room's sound proof. But truth be told, this isn't the most pressing thought on my mind at the moment.

I kiss Namine furiously, lowering my body towards hers, ready to enter her…

**-Kairi-**

"Help!" Kairi screams, banging on the door. "HELP!"

Suddenly, the door clicks open, a blonde kid in Camouflage pants answers the door, there's lipstick on his lips. A brown haired girl, wearing an orange shirt with Hawaiian flowers is sitting on the bed, her lips covered with something red.

"What the hell?" the blonde kid asks. But Kairi pushes past him, her eyes glowing with fury. I follow her out.

"Kairi! Kairi stop!" she halts.

"What is it…?" she whispers quietly.

"What's happening to us Kairi?"

"What do you mean?" she asks, but she knows, I can hear it in her voice, see it in her eyes.

"You know. You broke up with me…you've shattered my heart, and you're ignoring me. Our friendship is practically non-existent. What the hell is going on? I thought you loved me!"

There's silence. For one second, two seconds…three.

"I don't love you Sora." The words feel like a stab to the chest. It feels like every scraped knee, every broken bone, every single bruise and every single cut. It feels like all my pain, multiplied by a thousand.

"You don't mean that," and there are tears in my eyes, welling up, ready to pour out.

"Sora…"

"You don't mean it!" I insist, as if my words can change everything. As if that one sentence can modify her mind and make her kiss me and hug me and whisper into my ear those three big words. I love you. Over and over forever and ever…

"I do," tears are in my eyes…ready to pour down my cheeks. I step towards her, and press a single, messy kiss on her lips. One second passes, she just stands there, not encouraging me or discouraging me.

Then she pushes me away.

She steps back, and there are tears in her eyes too.

"No Sora. No," she places a hand on my cheek, her palm pressed flat against my falling tears. My own hand is on top of hers, holding her there.

She then steps back some more, and our connection breaks. "I'm sorry…I'm just…" then she's gone, dashing down the stairs. And all I can do is stand there…all there is to do is stand around.

**-Riku-**

Kairi dashes down the stairs, Sakura is still singing.

"What's going on?" I ask as her hand falls to the door knob, she tries to open it…but my foot is blocking her.

"Riku, move!"

"No, not until you tell me what your problem is."

She stares at me for a second, and then her hand comes flying. She slaps me. Hard. I fall back stepping away from the door. The last thing I see of Kairi that night is her fiery eyes, filled with hatred.

**A/N Oh. My. Gosh. This is possibly the longest chapter so far. I don't know. Anyway, as you can see…the story is taking an emotional turn, and not everyone's happy (all though, Namine' and Roxas have some good reasons to be chipper).**

**And yes, it was OOC for Sakura to sing Hips Don't Lie by Shakira…but this is a DRUNK Goth we're talking about. If you've seen a drunken Goth before then you know what I mean.**

**Ahem, and yes, another day another sex scene.**

**And yes, I brought Hayner, Pence and Olette into it. **

**Next time on ROCKY RELATIONSHIPS: The Teens enjoy a Sunday, as Sora desperately looks for an exit, Sakura tries to get over how much she embarrassed herself. Roxas tries to find out what the Organization's big plan is. **

**And things go down hill from there.**


	12. Chapter 12: Sunday Morning

**-Chapter 12: Sunday Morning-**

I yawn, turning over and sighing. My blonde hair flops in front of my face, causing me to swipe it away in annoyance. Another strand falls, and I try to bat that one away as well…but it's ever determined to ruin my morning, falling in front of my face multiple times.

"Uh…" I moan.

"Hmm…what is it?" a muffled voice says beside me.

I yelp, practically jumping five feet into the air.

I notice, for the first time that I'm in a bed…naked…with someone. Oh my god. What if I had a one night stand? What if I slept with someone I don't even know! What if we were both drunk and now I'm pregnant with his child and am going to die from parent hood!

'_Okay Namine…calm down. Just see who it is…in fact, this is probably a nightmare. You'll see who it is and then you'll scream and then you'll wake up; NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT.'_

I turn around slightly, for I've been gazing at the wall in the hopes that this will all fade away and I'll wake up; but it's clear that that isn't going to happen.

The person I see beside me shocks and awes me.

There's Roxas, his hands behind his head, his eyes gazing up at me, with the cutest expression on his face. His big blue eyes meet my own, and my smile beats his in size.

A feeble, small part of my mind registers that Roxas has a very, _very _nice body…OKAY a BIG part of my mind acknowledges that fact. But still.

He has a very nice body indeed, especially his…WOAH Namine! Keep your head out of the gutter!

"Roxas…" I whisper.

"Yeah?"

"Did…is the party over?"

"Yeah. Everyone left at, like, one. I was two tired to kick em' out."

At one? It was seven O'clock now. That meant that Roxas had been awake for at least six hours. Which means that he let me sleep, in his bed, NAKED.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" there's a little bit of an edge to my voice.

"I…didn't have the heart to wake you…you're really beautiful when you're asleep by the way."

"Oh…" I blush, "you think I'm…beautiful."

"I do."

I don't know why it means so much for him to say that to me now. After all…he _has_ said it before. Don't get me wrong, it meant a lot before…but it means even MORE now. Maybe it's the fact that he saw me naked…maybe it's because I've finally found "The One" and He's finally found ME.

Or maybe it's because, that amongst all the chaos, all of the carnage that is our friends lives at the moment…he still loves me.

Before he can say another word, I plant countless kisses on his lips, he moans with pleasure.

As he slowly readies himself to do it with me again, the only words that are in my head…the only thoughts that I can even CONSIDER processing are this; I love you. Over and over, forever and ever they echo and they bounce through my mind.

And I DO love him; with all my heart and soul I LOVE him!

**-Sakura-**

"Oh…my head."

"SHH…It's okay," Riku soothes me, placing a wet wash cloth on my forehead. He kindly drove me back to Namine's house, and TOOK CARE OF ME. Oh my god, having a servant; most awesome thing EVER.

"R-riku," I moan, holding my head, which is pounding (DAMN HANG OVER!), "I'm…really…glad that you took care of me," I tell him. I try to keep my voice as steady as possible.

"You're welcome," he smiles, his pale shiny white teeth showing. "So, Hips Don't Lie…I didn't think you were the 'Shakira' type."

"Oh, _my god_ Riku," I give him my best death glare; "I do _not _like Shakira!"

"Looks to me like you do," he laughs.

"I DO NOT!"

"Okay, okay, calm down," he smiles some more. "You have a nice singing voice."

"Why thank you," I murmur with gritted teeth.

He only grins that infuriatingly cute grin.

I sigh, sipping a bit more of my chicken noodle soup. Well, at least I have a good boyfriend to take care of me in my time of need. Even IF he can be annoying sometimes…but then again, he can make annoying look cute.

GOD Sakura, what's up with you? You are getting WAY too attached here. You two are going to end up breaking up soon, when he realizes how two faced you are, and how your emotions and enchantments drive you to do crazy things.

I love him, which is why I care so much. If I get too attached, it will only be harder to say goodbye.

As I watch his glimmering smile, all I can do is laugh. Our relationship will end, there's no denying it…but it's the _now _that counts. We have to stay strong in the present, so that we can be prepared for the future. We can't drown in the oceans of our fears…all we can do is float.

**-Axel- **

I hate the post party boredom!

After all of the fun from yesterday, I'm stuck in my huge-ass-mansion, burning newspapers to pass my time. NEWSPAPERS! I mean if you're going to burn something, burn something stylish!

I sigh, examining the nails on my left hand, while throwing a news paper ball into the fire with the other.

SO BORED!

'_You could be saving Larxene right now…' _my mind reminds me.

'_And you could shut the fuck up!' _

**-Sora-**

My house is so quiet…my parents are at work, because they don't get any relaxation on Sundays. Maybe I should get a job…then I wouldn't be so bored…and I wouldn't be able to think about Kairi.

Or Riku.

I shiver at the name, knowing that somehow, and in someway, he's the cause of my problems; _all _of them. Ever since he came back…everything just seams to be falling apart.

What's happening to me? I'm supposed to be happy, to shrug everything off with a smile. Riku was the cool one, Kairi was the sweet one, and I was the happy one. What happened to all that? Riku is being a problem-causer and Kairi isn't so sweet anymore.

And I'm broken.

What am I going to do?

I sigh, flipping through the channels on the T.V.

One channel.

Two channel.

Three channel.

Eight-hundred ninety seven channel…

I jump up with a frustrated shriek. "WHY IS NOTHING ON?" I scream to no one in particular.

My loud voice is met with only silence. No one's here to here me. I help everyone else…but no one helps me. What kind of life is this?

**-Sakura-**

I sent Riku off a while ago, telling him not to worry about me anymore. With about an hour of pleading he finally agreed, stomping away.

Now I'm at a Coffee shop. Some Café called, "Disney". I sigh, sitting down and sipping my drink. Jazz music is playing on the loudspeaker, and I find my foot tapping to the rhythm.

'_Great. I've got a hang over AND I'm starting to like bad music. When will this torture end?'_

I hear tapping—not from me this time—I turn to see a blonde haired girl, wearing a long, black, trench coat. Her hand is using the table as a drum.

She finally notices me staring and turns; her blue eyes alive with curiosity. I look down at my outfit for a moment, all black, with a lot of eyeliner on my face. Great, I'm a walking stereotype.

The girl gets up, walking over to me. I stare at her as she lowers herself into the other chair at my table.

I glare at her, annoyed.

"What do you want?"

She looks taken aback for a minute, but her answer comes none-the-less. "I was wondering why you were staring at me. It's impolite."

I'm slightly thrown off by this, "I was…um…staring because I…uh…LOVE the trench coat. Especially the color, talk about strutting your stuff in style!" I ramble.

She stares at me for a minute wearily, probably evaluating my sanity.

"Who are you?" I finish, lamely.

She sighs openly, looking down at her feet. "I-I'm Larxene."

Larxene? Where have I heard that name before…?

'_Oh look, a flashback;_

"'_Organization? What organization?'_

'_Organization Thirteen,' Namine answered patiently, 'they've been after Roxas, Axel and I for ages.'_

'_Axel? The cute fire boy?' _

_She rolled her eyes at me, but continued none the less. 'Yeah…that boy. Roxas and Axel used to belong to the Organization…but when their leader "Xemnas" went too far, they left. Axel was in love with one of the members; Larxene. But she stayed…and he's never forgiven himself. He thinks that it's his fault, that if he would have said the right thing, then it all would've turned out alright.'_

'_Larxene…that's a weird name.'"_

"Larxene? Axel's lover?" I mentally kick myself. You don't just ASK people if they're someone else's lover.

"How did you know about that?" she hisses, lowering her voice.

"Namine told me…"

"Namine…" she says slowly, "I remember her. Xemnas kidnapped her." Now that was one part of the story that Namine HADN'T told me. I'd have to talk to her later…

"Is this…Xemnas guy holding you hostage?" I ask.

She hesitates, clearly trying to see if she can trust me. "Y-yes…"

"And Axel, he's trying to save you?"

"Yes."

"Oh…" I sigh, "Then…why haven't you left with him yet?"

"Because Xemnas will kill him if I try to leave!"

"…I think…can I give you something?"

I don't wait for her answer; instead, I stand up and remove something from my purse. It's a tiny star-shaped pendant; it's entirely black, yet strangely shiny.

"Here," I hand it to her, pressing it to her palm. "This is my lucky charm. Namine has one just like it, except its white. It symbolizes our friendship; one white and the other dark; complete opposites, but still together."

She nods, understanding. "I can't except this…it must be really important…"

"It is," I nod, "but it has years of friendship stored inside…when you have this, it's like I'm with you; and Namine's not far behind. Apart we're strong, together…we're invincible."

"B-but why are you giving this to me?" she stutters.

"It's what friends do." I smile at her, before walking out of the coffee shop, leaving my new friend behind me.

**A/N a shorter chapter then the last, but still a bit long. I had more planned for this chapter, but things got complicated. Everything else will be in the next chapter. **

**I have a new contest. You see, I have a character page on my free webs website (the link is in my Fan Fiction profile, I think). On this character page, I have descriptions of Sora, Riku, and everyone else, even Sakura. But my problem is that, since Sakura is an original character; I couldn't find a picture of her that really fit (the descriptions all come with pictures of the characters). So, if any of you out there are artists I would like you to send me a drawing of Sakura. The best picture will be placed on my free webs website, and the name of its artist will be listed also, so that everyone will know how good said artist is.**

**I'd like for it to be sketched. **

**Email the picture to me at; tommy under-score tribble (at sign) yahoo . com (no spaces). Thank you so much if you choose to participate.**

**Next time on ROCKY RELATIONSHIPS: Roxas searches for clues about Vexen's ominous warning. And then, of course, it all goes down hill. **


	13. Chapter 13: Crash and Burn

**-Chapter 13: Crash and Burn-**

I skipped school. There, I said it.

I sigh, driving my way towards my former home. Well, it wasn't my home…but it was the only place where I felt accepted.

Oblivion Mansion; the headquarters of the Organization, my former friends. I remember that day, being so mad at my parents…wanting a way out.

I'd walked up, and then I just sat there, leaning my head backwards against the gate. Someone came to meet me finally; a black coated boy…his name was Axel.

He was soon to be my best friend.

It took little convincing, within a few weeks I was with the Organization. It was a fun life, I got invited to all the parties…I got to live it up with Xemnas, easily the most popular guy at my school.

But…something was wrong. I could see it in all of their eyes, all twelve of them. It was obvious that they hated Shinra…but I had to question Axel to get the full story.

They killed a man…Sephiroth of the Shinra Company. It was so wrong, but I couldn't stop. I did every assignment they gave me; I sabotaged every shipment and destroyed every resource at Cloud Strife's disposal.

But when Xemnas killed Aerith, it was the last straw. I left the organization, and Axel followed. His girlfriend, Larxene didn't, which is only one of the many problems I have at the moment.

Then there's Sora and Kairi; the two people responsible for getting Namine and I together. If it hadn't been for them, I would still be too shy to speak to Namine…ever.

I'd always thought that Kairi and Sora would get married someday, maybe have kids…get good paying jobs and live long and happy lives. But no, they've broken up now, the golden couple has fallen. Kairi and Sora would always give us hope…but without them…what are we to do?

How are we supposed to act when all hope of love is lost? How can we go on like this, with our rocky relationships and dying love…how can we live on if everything we've ever cared about is falling apart?

I sigh, parking in front of the mansion. It's the same as always, with its eerie white walls and tall buildings. Oblivion is a magnificent place.

I hop the gate, sneaking to one side of the house, I gaze through the window. As suspected, no one's here. There are no cars around anyway, how COULD they be here?

I snatch the hide-a-key. It's in its usual place, under the third floorboard to the left. The door pops open easily; and I tip toe inside. I don't know why I'm bothering; no one's around to hear me.

I sigh again, throwing caution to the wind I run all the way up the stairs. A couple minutes later I reach Xemnas study.

I shuffle through papers…endless files and contracts. I bite my lip, looking over each and every line of print.

Nothing.

That's when I finally notice it, beneath the piles and piles of paper-work, there's a map. It's huge, covering the entire desk. It's a map of the…Shinra Company.

I gasp, realizing that all of the main "control" areas have been circled on this map…almost as if they want to corrupt all of the building's systems, at the exact same time. That would cause the entire security system to fall apart…

"Oh my god…"

"I guess you've figured it out then," a voice says behind me.

I turn like lightning, and there's Luxord, blonde hair ruffled; blue eyes glowing in the dark. His smile is that of a predator.

"What do you want…?" I ask, out of breath.

"I wish to warn you Roxas…they're coming. There's a live feed video-camera in this room," the gambler says. "We've been watching you the whole time."

"Who's coming?" I ask; already knowing the answer, but dreading it.

"The entire Organization of course. In a matter of moments you _will_ be taken. There are no ifs or maybes about it; you have no chance to escape…I'd bet my life on it."

I shake my head, backing away. I don't want to listen anymore…I don't want to hear about my chances. "Not everything's set in stone."

"True, true, but your fate is certainly in the mud…" his eyes twinkle. "If I was you I would—"

I turn and run, but Luxord's voice echoes behind me; "You can run Roxas, but you can't hide! Not from death!"

I dash down the stairs and out the door, but I see I'm too late. My car is surrounded by Volvos and Ferraris, Organization members are getting out of their cars, slowly drawing closer to me.

I abandon the idea of trying to reach my truck, and instead I run behind the house, jumping the fence and dashing through the wilderness. I see the open road, knowing that if I can just get to a public place, then I will be safe.

My heart is beating like a drum, and my mind is going a mile a minute. I start to cross the road, blind hope fueling my adrenaline.

I don't see the car until it's too late.

**A/N ROXAS! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!**

**What will happen to our favorite blonde hero? How will the others cope?**

**I've decided to show you a small preview of the next chapter, I mean, a more in-depth version then the usual "Next time on Rocky Relationships". **

**So…next time on ROCKY RELATIONSHIPS: **

"**I feel like I'm falling apart, with everything that's happening; it's a miracle that I haven't surrendered yet. The Organization is stronger then we are…they always have been. How can we win a battle that is so clearly lost?"**

**There's your preview.**

**There's been, like, no response to the "Draw Sakura" contest. I'm really hoping that one of you pulls through. My email was listed in the last chapter, but for your sake I'll put it again. **

**It's; tommy (underscore) tribble (at sign) yahoo .com (no spaces).**

**And also, for those of you who DO decide to participate in the "Draw Sakura" contest, I have a description of her.**

**She has dark skin, brown eyes and is really curvy, almost super model curvy but not quite. She also has long black hair. Sakura wears black mini-skirts a lot, but not always. But whatever her outfit it almost always features the color black. So, you can make her wear whatever you want, just let it have the color black in it. Got it? Good.**

**OH! I almost forgot. So, way back in chapter 11 there was a hint to a potential spin-off series. Do any of you know what that hint was? If you figure it out, tell me, I'd like to know how smart my readers are.**

**And also, I'm missing, like, one review for the last chapter. So could that person both review THIS chapter and the last chapter? Thanks. **


	14. Chapter 14: Lost

**-Chapter 14: Lost-**

I walked quickly up the steps of the hospital, pushing my way through the door, batting away the people in my way. I hurry to the receptionist's desk.

"Where's Roxas? Roxas Destino, what happened to him? Is he alive…what room is he in?" I ramble.But to my utter horror the receptionist isn't even listening to me. She holds up a single finger, signaling that she's on the phone.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" I slam my hand down on her table, hard. But the desk lady doesn't respond, she only rolls her eyes and continues to babble into the phone.

"No, you know what!" I grab the phone from her and slam it down on the receiver. "You're going to help me now, whether you like it or not!" I'm practically screaming now.

"Calm down, miss," the desk girl says haughtily. "I'll try to find him…" she types a few things on the computer. I hold my breath, hoping beyond hope that he's okay. My Roxas HAS to be okay…if he weren't I'd—

"Mr. Corazon was taken in around one thirty today. It was a hit and run. As of yet, Roxas' vitals have yet to be stabilized," the lady drones out these words as if reading from a test book. "He has a massive case of internal bleeding; the collision has caused many ruptures to blood vessels throughout his body, making him bleed from the inside."

"O-oh…" I feel my arms start to shake, and my knees buckle.

"Are you alright?" the receptionist asks.

_No I'm not alright, _"I'm fine," _you F-in idiot._

I feel like I'm being consumed by blackness…it's almost as if everything inside me is falling apart; my mind, my heart…my soul.

"Maybe you should go to the waiting room. We'll send the doctor when we hear more word on Roxas."

"O-okay," I walk on clumsy feet towards the waiting room. I plop down in a chair and close my eyes, hoping against hope that my boyfriend's alright.

'_A hit and run…'_

'_Roxas' vitals have yet to be stabilized…'_

'…_internal bleeding…'_

I shiver at the words, closing my eyes and wishing it all away.

I hear something suddenly; "WHAT DO YOU MEAN INTERNAL BLEEDING?" someone practically screams. I look up with wide eyes, Sakura and Riku has arrived.

Sora's silver-haired friend looks grim, while Sakura just looks angry. "It means that—"

"I know very well what 'internal bleeding' means!" Sakura yells.

"Then why—"

"Oh, I'm wasting my time with you!" Sakura says, throwing up her hands in exasperation. That, of course, is when she finally notices me. "Namine!" she rushes over, her shoes squeaking on the floor. She sits down beside me and wraps me in a tight hug. "I'm so sorry, I'm so, so sorry…we'd have been here sooner, but with school and all…"

"I understand," I say, my eyes squeezed shut as I hug her back.

"Namine, are you okay?" Riku asks with concern, appearing behind Sakura.

"N-no," tears well up in my eyes, spilling down my face, "I don't t-think I am." I sob into Sakura's shoulder, tears of sadness and loneliness, tears for Roxas, tears for Sora and Kairi, tears for Axel…tears for everyone.

"It's okay, don't talk…just let it out," Sakura whispers into my ear, "I keep enough emotions locked up for the both of us."

I nod silently into her shoulder.

I stop crying a little later, and pull away from Sakura. She asks if I want anything to drink, but I say no. She goes off with Riku to the cafeteria, saying how she'll bring food back. She knows me to well…she knows it will be best to eat.

"Is Roxas okay?" someone asks from the front desk, and once again the receptionist drones out her text-book-lines and I hear horrified gasps. I look up to see Tidus, Wakka and Selphie, all huddled around the front desk with eyes full of woe.

They come over shortly, comforting me. All I can do is nod silently.

"Namine, it's not like he's dead…" Tidus tries to comfort me.

Selphie hits him in response.

"But he could be," I reply finally. "Internal bleeding is bad; sometimes they can't get it to stop in time. People are fragile Tidus…it's too easy to break us," and to my dismay tears fall across my face once more. Selphie wraps her arms around me again, and we sit there, silently.

Sakura is back again, along with Riku. She hands me a soda, and again tries to lift my spirits with her words. She's so manipulative…she can usually make me do anything; she can even make me happy when, at the moment, it seems impossible.

But this isn't one of those times. Whatever she says with that magical voice, whatever she does…there's nothing that can lift this sadness from me. Roxas, _my _Roxas, is on the brink…ready to sail over the edge at any moment.

"It was the Organization members who did this," a voice whispers behind me. I turn to see Axel, his face red with anger. "They killed my friend."

"He's not dead Axel," I whisper, "yet…"

"He might as well be," he replies, ignoring my second comment, "what are the chances that he'll survive this? Huh? People don't get ran over and survive, its how things work! Whenever someone gets ran over head on, and on purpose like that, they ALWAYS die." His eyes are shiny with wetness. "I don't know what I'd do without…he's just…the only one who understands me."

"I—"

Someone interrupts me, "Are you Namine?"

I turn again, and I see a doctor in a white lab coat. Her name tag reads "Dr. Yuna".

"Is Roxas alright??? Answer me!"

"I'll take that as a yes, but Roxas…we're doing the best we can. Are his parents around?"

"No. His parents are all the way in Twilight Town," Axel says quietly.

"Oh," Yuna smiles halfheartedly, "is there anyway I can get a hold of them?"

"I already called them," Axel answers in my place again, "They should be on their way here."

"Oh, that's good," Dr. Yuna says. "Roxas' condition has improved some, but not drastically. Internal Bleeding still ravages his body." Yuna sighs mournfully, "We'll do the best we can…but you may have to accept that our best might not be enough." She looks at me, and I can tell that she's had to deliver this type of news to a lot of people. "He may not survive."

I hear a sharp intake of breath—from Axel—and tears leak down my own face. Just when I thought I was out of tears they come back again.

Sakura hugs me tightly again.

Selphie and Tidus exchange a long glance.

Wakka just stares at his feet.

"This can't be happening…" I whisper, again and again. I see Sora, walking up to the receptionist desk, and then running over to doctor Yuna.

"Is he alright—"but he stops at the look on my face, I shake my head anyway, confirming his fears. "But…he's my…family."

"How are you related to Roxas?" Dr. Yuna asks. I hate it when she says his name, it reminds me that this IS happening, and that Roxas COULD die.

"I'm his cousin. C-can I see him?" and I can see that Sora is biting his lips, almost to the point of spilling his own blood.

Dr. Yuna shakes her head, we all do. "No. His condition is too extreme. He doesn't even have the energy to talk…" she explains all of his injuries to Sora. The brunette sits down and closes his eyes, a sort of silent command for the doctor to leave.

Dr. Yuna obeys; turning and vanishing.

"My cousin…" Sora whispers. And tears are spilling down his face. Riku is frowning deeply.

And I'm still crying…just like Sora.

I know that it's the organization that did this; I know that it's them who are causing us all this pain. It's part of their twisted game. I find myself wanting to win this game, to make them feel our pain…to drive a stake through each of their hearts.

I'm even mad at Larxene! She used to baby sit me with Axel all the time…but now…what was she doing when this all happened? Where was she? Why didn't she stop it?

And how can we win? I feel like I'm falling apart, with everything that's happening; it's a miracle that I haven't surrendered yet. The Organization is stronger then we are…they always have been. How can we win a battle that is so clearly lost?

I close my eyes against everything, the pain, the sorrow…the darkness. I can still feel Sakura's shoulder through my trance.

I open my eyes for a fraction of a second, and I see the shock of Kairi's red hair appear at the hospital entrance. But I don't feel like dealing with her stupid 'Riku' thing…no, none of it concerns me.

All that matters is Roxas.

**A/N Okay, so Roxas is not okay. Don't flame me because of it, it's not like I killed him off. Yet. **

**ANYWAY! Still no response to "Draw Sakura", I'm hoping that SOMEONE answers this request. And also, none of you picked up on the hidden "potential spin off" of chapter 11. If you figure it out, tell me, and you can also tell me if it's a good idea or not.**

**Next time, on Rocky Relationships: The Organization draws in for a final strike; Namine tries to cope with Roxas' condition. Will he heal? Will Axel EVER save Larxene?**

**Oh and one more thing, a while ago someone (can't remember who) commented on how the "Axel-Larxene-Organization 13" story arc wasn't very "tied in" to this story. He/She said that it might belong in a different fic; because it's so apart from the other story threads (Kairi and Sora break up, Riku and Kairi problem, Namine and Roxas, and Sakura and Riku relationship". I hope that you've changed your mind, because the story threads are coming together.**

**For instance, Namine has been pulled into it because for one, Xemnas kidnapped her a long time ago, and two, they hurt **_**her **_**Roxas. Sakura is involved because, not only are they hurting her best friend Namine, but Namine's BOYFRIEND as well. Sora is in it because Roxas is his cousin, Axel wants to save Larxene, and so he needs to participate. Riku will do anything to protect Sakura (even if she doesn't need protecting) so if SHE goes after the organization, then HE goes after the organization.**

**The only person who isn't QUITE tied in to it is Kairi, but after all, Roxas is still a close friend, and her Ex-boyfriend's cousin. So she has a reason as well. **

**Oh, and Roxas' last name, Destino, means Destiny in Latin. I thought it fit.**

**Well, that's it for this chapter, please review peeps! **


	15. Chapter 15: Take Over

**-Chapter 15: Take Over-**

I stare at the ceiling, then the desk, then the magazine rack, then the ceiling again. Over and over I repeat this cycle. Let's face it, there's not much you can look at in hospitals.

I exhale heavily, closing my eyes.

Roxas has finally stopped bleeding. The doctors told me over an hour ago, but the pain in my heart is still there. The flames of hurt are still burning inside me.

I'm finally aloud to visit him, to see his face and tell him that I'll love him no matter what. But all I can do is stand there, right outside his door.

I can see Destiny; its waves of silver and light bounce around the room. But behind Roxas' door…there's nothing; an empty grayness that stretches and wanes towards me.

I am afraid to open the door, I'm afraid of what will be behind it. What if Roxas is mangled and broken? What if he's covered in blood…or dead?

Oh god. What if he's dying right now? What if he's all alone with no one there…if I don't open the door now, you could die without ever seeing me.

I decide that his happiness is more important then my fear, or even well being. I open the door, and what I see makes me gasp.

He's there, lying in the center of the bed, his hair flat (for once) and your hospital gown all wrinkled. But the flames of Destiny that usually surround you are gone. The beautiful rings of light that dance about you are absent…all that's there is the disgusting grayness. It is wrapped around you like a blanket, choking the Destiny right out of you.

All I can do is stand there, and mutter one word over and over; "No, no, no, no, no, no, no…"

This can't be happening. This can't be happening…not now…not when we're so happy, and so free. How can it fall apart when we've just come together?

**-Axel-**

This is wrong. I shouldn't be doing this.

Roxas is injured, he could DIE, and what am I doing about it? I'm going to visit my girlfriend. Instead of comforting Namine I've come to make out with Larxene.

I feel so guilty…why the hell am I even doing this?

A sigh escapes my lips (yes, ANOTHER one).

I'm sneaking to Xemnas' house (AGAIN). I didn't bother to check if he's home or not, his car's not parked in its usual spot, so he must've gone out; right?

I walk in without knocking, and take a second to admire the pictures all over the walls. There's Larxene and I, my arm around her, and her head nestled into my neck, I'm surprised that Xemnas hasn't taken down this photo. There's the rest of the Organization, taking a group photo.

I come around the corner and see Larxene, sitting by the fire, with thick crocodile tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Larx, what's wrong?" I approach her.

She sighs, "I can't believe it's come this…" she turns suddenly, faster then I've ever seen her move. A gun barrel is held to my forehead, and her tears are flowing faster.

"W-what—"

"Well, boys, look who's come to play?" a voice echoes behind me. I turn my head slightly, careful not to startle Larxene into shooting.

Xemnas is behind me, silver hair falling down his back.

Above the stairways, the other organization members appear, their guns pointed at me from all directions. Even if I had the heart to hurt Larxene…I'll be shot to death before I can take another step.

"What's going on?" I ask; all though I have a pretty good idea.

"You've just been screwed over, _that's _what's going on," Xemnas smiles a cruel smile. "You see, I've known about your little 'visits' to my girlfriend," at this he glances at Larxene with a manipulative glint in his eyes. "But I wanted to see how it would play out. Sure, I could kill you…but what would that solve? No…I need you back on my side."

"And how are you going to sway me, bribery? Blackmail perhaps? Torture even? I wouldn't put it past you."

"Don't try to anger me, Axel. It won't work. And, to answer your question, swaying you would be all too easy, for the very reason you left the Organization was because of her!" He motions to Larxene. "You loved her and you wanted to become a good person…so that she would love you in return." The saddest part about his accusations is that they're partly true. I did want Larxene to like me…love me…I DID leave the organization for her…and I DID want to be a better person, for her benefit. But despite all I'd done Larxene had stayed with the Organization…and broken my heart.

My expression must be hurt, because he attacks again with full force, "Did you really think that you, Axel, could be a better person? You who single handedly aided me in the infiltration of the Shinra Company; and had a direct hand in the death of…_Sephiroth_," his eyes harden at the name.

I feel my knees begin to shake.

He's right. I DID help kill that man; I DID destroy the Shinra Company. How can I forgive myself for ending a life? And Larxene…did she hate me? Has she forgiven me now?

"The fact is, Axel; that you _need _Larxene to survive. And if you don't cooperate…I will kill her."

"What?" I gasp.

"Yes. If she dies, then you die…her destruction is the key to your demise," his head cocks to the side, "and I will exploit that key."

"You can't do this!" I turn back to Larxene, stepping away from her gun. "How can you help him? After all he's done to you—"

"If she doesn't help me…" he smiles a horrible smile, "I'll kill you; and I'll make her watch."

Larxene's eyes fall to her feet, and more tears pour down her face. "If she doesn't survive, then you don't, and vice versa. It would be sad to lose two of my best members…"

"What about Roxas, huh, HE was with you too."

"Emphasis on 'was'. He abandoned our cause, and now he will suffer for it."

"YOU did this to him!" I launch forward, my fist extends to Xemnas face. But he sidesteps me, and as the Organization prepares to fire, he taps my throat with a single finger. I feel my pulse start to slow…and my world begins to darken.

"Don't shoot," Xemnas murmurs, "the last thing we need is _another _body."

"Xigbar!" Xemnas shouts, "drag him to the…" and that is the last thing I hear.

**-Sakura- **

I knock on Roxas' door. No one answers me from the other side. I knock again, louder this time…and still no answer. I turn the door knob and step into the room quietly. I see Namine, crouching over Roxas' bed, his eyes are closed and his hair is flat…there are bandages surrounding his face.

"I'm sorry Roxas…I'm so sorry I wasn't there…I-I need you," Namine's voice drifts to me, "I want you Roxas. You can't leave me here…I don't think I can do it alone."

Roxas is still asleep, "Our friends…they need us, Roxas. We can't just leave them…_you _can't just leave them. We're the only thing that's keeping them from breaking…we're the glue that holds them together. I can't do this alone…" Namine is crying now. I can hear the desire in her voice, the begging and the hurt in her aura. She feels so alone…

"Namine…" I whisper.

She turns to me, her eyes red and puffy; "I'm sorry. Oh, do you want to see Roxas now, I can go…"

"Shh, Namine," I step forward and grip her in a tight hug, "don't talk. Riku and I are going home…Axel's gone too…Sora went to get food for you, and Kairi's still in the waiting room. If you need Riku and me, just call us."

"O-okay," she snuggles into my shoulder, "you and Riku should go now."

"Goodbye Namine…" I whisper. Before slowly turning and walking away, I can feel Namine's eyes on my back for a moment, before she goes back to Roxas.

Their love is inspiring, Roxas and Namine…really it is. They would do anything for each other…theirs is a love that could last forever, beyond eternity, beyond heaven and hell…beyond god and the devil.

Their love will last…Mine and Riku's? Well, it's going to end. I love him, really, I do. But he'll get tired of me, tired of my impulses and tired of everything I want and stand for; he'll abandon me; just like all the others.

Huh, you'd think I'd be sadder about that. But no, I've accepted it…there's no defeating your destiny. And my destiny is to be alone. Forever.

**-Sora-**

I order three hamburgers, three sodas, and three fries from the cashier guy. He nods, takes my money and relays the order the food-maker guys.

I sigh out loud, filling the three cups with ice and Dr. Pepper. It's been a while since I ate out. I remember the last time…Kairi ordered a salad and I ate three burgers all by myself…

Kairi.

My eyes unconsciously water.

"Is something wrong?" the voice is soft, I turn to it. A girl, about my age is standing there; her hair is long and blonde, with streaks of red dyed in, she's wearing a black and green outfit.

"N-no," I wipe my eyes hurriedly, not wanting to look like a pussy in front of the pretty girl. She smiles at me, and I notice that her eyes are a disturbing shade of almost-blood red. Yet…they look bright and beautiful…enlightening.

"You shouldn't hold your emotions in," the girl says, filling her cup with Pepsi; "If you're not careful…you'll break." She looks back up at me, and there's something vaguely…surreal about her gaze. It's like…there's something wrong with her.

"Who are you?" I ask her.

"I'm Angel," she smiles at me, and the vacant look in her eye vanishes, as if she's passed through a haze. "My brother and I just moved here from Spira."

"Wow, you're from another country?"

"Yes," she smiles again, before about turning to leave. But just before she walks away, she whispers something. "Don't hide your feelings…you'll break," she repeats this a few times, as if it's the most important thing in the world. Then she's gone, and I'm left wondering what the hell is going on.

Angel…who the hell is she? Why is she in The Destiny Islands? Who's her brother? Someone I know? Someone I hate? And what does she mean by "you'll break?"

There are too many questions and too little answers. I feel as if my head is about to explode with all the emotions and thoughts and heart breakers bouncing about in my cranium. But, to my surprise, my head hasn't burst into flames or become a puddle of guts and hair.

Why is Kairi acting like this? And there's yet ANOTHER question to confuse me.

I sit down on a nearby table, waiting for my number to be called while I sip my Dr. Pepper.

Do I really love Kairi? That sweet read-headed girl with eyes like blue flames and skin like cream, and if not, then do I really hate her? Can I really forget about all of the good times we've shared…but even if I couldn't…what about all of the pain she's caused me? She's changed me, from my old self to this bitter shadow that isn't me.

"Number 38, your food is ready…NUMBER 38," a voice explodes over the intercom. I walk up to the Burger guy and take my food. He nods and says the signature; "Have a happy, happy day".

I only walk away, dodging the other customers and avoiding everyone else's eyes.

What is going on with my life? How can I keep living like this when my purpose is falling apart? I was born to be with Kairi, it's always been expected, everyone knows it. I've had a crush on her ever since third grade…everyone knew it…

Riku knew it…even though he—

I can't even say it. I know that Kairi is after Riku now…I'm not an idiot. I don't matter to her at all. I was the second choice…the less important one. The cute boy to replace the sexy man.

I'm walking back to the hospital, I didn't bring my car…the burger place was really close, and I thought I could use the exercise.

But it's really dark outside now…an eerie darkness that surrounds everything.

My heart still hurts. After all that Kairi has done…I still want her, that's what sucks the most. I can't stand wanting her. Can I really survive all this drama…Kairi…Sakura…Riku…all of them causing me trouble in a different way? This is the worst time…I mean…with Roxas—

"Hey you," comes a quiet voice behind me.

I turn quickly, my eyes wide.

A head without a body floats behind me; it has practically blue hair and is pointing something at me…

Wait, how would a floating head "point" something?

I look again, and notice that the person is wearing all black clothing. The guy is short, with shining eyes and is wearing the signature "organization" black-hooded-coat.

"Oh no," I realize, stepping away from him.

"Oh yes," he grins maliciously, pointing a gun at me, "You must be Sora. I'm Zexion, nice to make your acquaintance."

"What do you want…?" I look around cautiously, hoping a cop will show up. But none are there, the only people here are this Zexion dude and me.

"I want you to die."

"Why?"

"Xemnas isn't going to risk you interfering."

"Why would I interfere?" I ask desperately. Interfere…what does that word mean? Um…um…meddle! That's right…it means to fool around with stuff…get in the middle of things.

"Because, we're the ones who hurt Roxas," I feel my muscles tighten at these words, and my eyes blaze with anger at his horribly cunning smile.

"Do you hate me, Sora?"

"I don't…hate…people."

"Is that so? Maybe I'm not a person…what kind of person has the guts to kill for fun?"

"Crazy ones," I quip.

He laughs loudly; "Right on cue there. But no…I kill to get what I want. _We_, the organization, kill for respect…for fear. We are the boogie man, the shadow in the night, people fear us. We are a nightmare come to life." His head cocks to one side slightly, and his eyes grow distant. "We are justice…payback…revenge. They'll pay for what they did to me…all of them…"

I don't want to hear anymore, I dive towards the blue haired boy. His eyes clear as he readies to fire, but I force his hand up, and he misses me and instead hits the wall above us. The force of my tackle throws Zexion to the ground.

I stand up and kick his gun down a sewer hole that's conveniently lying open in the street.

That done, I turn and run, dashing around street lights, spinning around corners.

Another black coated figure steps out of nowhere, punching me in the stomach. I fall to my knees a bit of blood vomiting from my mouth.

"Lexaeus; don't let him escape!" the brown haired man turns to where Zexion is approaching from. He has a huge red Tomahawk strapped to his back.

I let a sob escape my throat, and using a well aimed kick I trip the muscle man. He falls to the ground as I get to my feet, I run desperately, but my knees are bleeding from the rocks I fell on, and my abs hurt like hell.

The hospital doors are just ahead, I can hear Zexion and Lexaeus gaining on me…

**-Riku-**

Sakura and I sneak through my window. It turns out that there's no need, because my parents are out buying groceries.

Sakura looks around my room hesitantly. "I like your TV," she finally says. My flat screen is placed on the wall, its picture perfect surface beckoning me to watch it.

But instead I turn back to Sakura, giving her a weird look, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she says, dropping to the floor from my window sill. She looks around again, first at the fan, then at my DVD collection, then my alarm clock, wash, rinse, and repeat.

"You sound awkward. Like you want to say something but…"

"But I'm too afraid to? Is that what I sound like?" she looks at me with unreadable eyes. "I don't _get _scared Riku. I'm immune to fear."

"No ones…_immune_ to fear."

"I am."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, stop asking," she replies hollowly.

"What _is _it already? Why won't you talk to me?" I search her eyes for something—anything—all I need is to read her emotions. That's it…if I knew what she was thinking…

"Because, now isn't the time for talking," she turns away from me abruptly, staring out my window and into the darkness. "It's the time for action. But all you people are doing is talking…"

"What do you—"

"Roxas. He could be dying, and all I'm doing is sitting here talking to you. I should be with Namine."

"Is that what this is? You're feeling guilty because Namine isn't crying into _your_ shoulder?"

"It has nothing to do with that," she says coldly. "Our whole world is falling apart…and all you can do is talk to me…kiss _me_."

"Huh?"

"You still like Kairi, I've seen the way she looks at you…and I've seen the way you look at her. When you're with me…you imagine her. And Roxas…he might die. Everything is going wrong…Destiny Islands is breaking, and all we can do is sit here and talk about it."

"I don't like Kairi. My feelings for her…they're nothing compared to what I have for you. I love you."

"You can _say_ that Riku…but that won't make it true. And our relationship isn't the issue here."

"I think it is."

"We should be doing something about Roxas," she tries to change the subject. But I won't have that.

"What can we do? Huh? There's nothing…the organization is way to powerful for a bunch of kids to handle. That's all we are Sakura, _kids_."

"We were kids before…now we're people."

"I—"

"Don't, don't say anything," she turns back to me, "these feelings you have for me won't last. They _never _last. So I suggest you stop thinking about it and help me find a way to help Roxas."

"Oh…but Roxas is _so _beyond help," a voice says.

I turn to see two black robed teens, one is blonde; the other has black hair with grey streaks in it. "You're one of them," Sakura says, her knees bending and her fists clenching.

"Ding, ding, we have a winner!" the blond one says, and it's clear that he was the one who spoke earlier. His voice is oddly high pitched…

"The dudette knows her stuff, doesn't she Demyx?" the black haired one says with an "I'm-on-drugs" kind of voice. His hair is woven into a sort of ponytail.

"Yep, Xiggy."

"FOR THE LAST TIME," the black haired one says, turning to the Demyx guy with a murderous glare; "My. Name. Is XIGBAR."

"Fine, fine," Demyx removes a huge weapon from behind his back, and Xigbar reveals two enormous hand guns hidden in his sleeves.

"Come quietly and we won't have to hurt you—"Xigbar begins, but is interrupted by Sakura.

"Is that a squirt gun?" she asks, pointing at Demyx's firearm with a giggle. In fact…it is a squirt gun; a yellow and red one.

"Y-yeah, what of it?" Demyx asks.

"It looks gay," Sakura says with another giggle. I try to send her a mental signal that she shouldn't antagonize the Organization members.

"B-but…mom says it looks cool," there's a tiny tear in Demyx eye, and I almost burst out laughing right then.

"I can't believe you brought that sorry excuse for a boom stick," Xigbar deadpans.

"Uh! Don't insult Squirty," Demyx says, petting his squirt gun lovingly. There are still tears in his eyes from Sakura's insult. "Honestly Xiggy, how are we supposed to be lovers if you keep insulting Squirty?"

"For the last time, we're not lovers!"

"Fine, male-sex companions?"

"AUGH!" Xigbar cries out, dropping his arms, and pointing his guns towards the floor. "God, Demyx, you're like the Diet Coke of the Organization…NOT UP TO PAR WITH THE REST OF US!"

I feel Sakura pull on my arm, I glance at her. She nods to me as she slowly backs away towards the window.

"Hey, wait, what are you dudes doing?" Xigbar turns back to us, glaring. "Trying to get away huh? Well, there'll be none of that," he fires both of his guns at once.

"HIT THE DECK!" Sakura screams, tackling me to the ground, my head makes contact with the corner of my desk. Everything goes black…

**-Sakura-**

I get up, dusting myself off. I notice Riku, "Now look what you made me do!" I yell at Demyx and Xigbar. "My boyfriends knocked out because of you two idiots!"

"What? You're the one who tackled him," Demyx says, folding his arms. I feel anger pulse up in me, I throw a book into the air; and with a well timed kick, and I send it spinning at top speed to Demyx head.

The book (which…turns out to be a dictionary) makes contact with the idiot's cranium, sending him reeling. He accidentally pulls the trigger on his squirt gun, sending a jet of heavy water into Xigbar, which causes him to collapse against the wall.

I hoist Riku on to my back (thank god for my Buffy strength), then I run, but just as I pass Demyx I puncture his squirt gun with my high heel. "Squirt with that, loser!"

I run down the hallway, through the kitchen, and barrel out the door. Just as I pass under the archway, a bullet collides with the wall, sending several small pieces of rubble into my head. I keep focus, running to Riku's shiny Volvo.

I hoist him into the passenger seat and take the wheel. I notice that his silver hair is stained with blood. "Oh god, Riku, oh god…don't die on me."

I put his key in the ignition, and drive off, but just as we're about to turn the corner and get out of site, his back window shatters. I turn with wide eyes to see Xigbar, laughing, his guns pointed at us from way behind.

Just then we turn the corner, and escape.

**-Namine-**

I've stopped talking to Roxas, and proceeded to stroke his hair. "If you wake up for this…I promise I'll get you the best Out-of-Coma present I can find."

Silence.

"Anything you want," it feels good to get all of my emotions out, after telling him all about my problems…I finally feel free. "Um…a PS3? They're expensive…but I can afford it."

Still no answer.

"How about a Wii? They're fun."

No response.

"Please Roxas—"

"Visiting hours are over," someone says behind me. I turn to see a Doctor, approaching me. There's something strange about him…about the way he walks…and he seams vaguely familiar.

"But the desk lady said I could be here as long as I want."

"Oh, that's bad luck," he has a slight English accent, "the receptionist was wrong."

He makes a grab for me, but I duck and head butt him. The man proceeds to grab a chunk of my hair with his pale fingers, and pull it. I prepare to scream, but he places a hand over my face, blocking the sound. "No squealing for you, lass."

He glares down at me with icy blue eyes. I proceed to kick him in the…lower area.

He doubles over in pain, releasing me. I make for the door, but someone gets me from behind, another person who entered the room while I wasn't looking. I turn to see a man with an X like scar on his face, and long blue hair. "Saix…" I whisper. I remember him from my brief stay with the Organization.

I know the other person to, Luxord.

"I'm sorry that it has to be like this," the blue haired person whispers with an emotionless voice; "well…I would be, if I could feel guilt." He stabs something into my arm—a shot of some kind—and I instantly feel dizzy.

"Whoa…" I whisper. Saix picks me up and lowers me onto a gurney. "Don't worry this will all be over soon."

Luxord walks up; "I can't believe she did that, kneed me right in the balls, she did."

My whole world blacks out.

**A/N AT LAST! CHAPTER FIFTEEN! DONE!!!!!!!!! WHOOO HOOOOOO! YA BABY!**

**Sorry, I'm excited. This was one of the first "action-y" chapters.**

**Okay, just incase you got confused, here is how it all happened.**

**At around 10 o'clock Axel left to go to Xemnas house, in which time he was ambushed by all of the Organization members (with the exception of Roxas and himself of course). **

**At 10:30 Sakura and Riku left to go to Riku's house. Ten minutes before that, Sora left to get food.**

**At 10:35 Namine was ambushed by Luxord and Saix. **

**At 10:40, Sora left the burger place and was ambushed by Zexion, and later Lexaeus. These two Organization members had left Xemnas house at around 10:10 to find him and capture him or kill him if he was too much of a nuisance.**

**At 10:50-11:00 Sakura and Riku were attacked by Demyx and Xigbar. Got that? Good. You might get confused, because all of the view points aren't in exact chronological order. **

**Okay, yes I made fun of Sora a little in this chapter (with the whole; "What does interfere mean?!!" thing) I also made fun of Demyx (A LOT) with the whole squirt gun thing…and him being gay.**

**I thought about naming his Squirt gun "Sitar" but I didn't think it would make much sense, so I did "Squirty" instead. **

**To solve up a tiny mystery, Demyx and Xigbar are dating secretly, but Demyx isn't being so secretive about it. You can tell that Xigbar is a little…weird…just by the way he…is. **

**ANYWAY, the Angel girl will be shrouded in mystery until Livid Love. She's an original character, but I thought about Sora meeting a Final Fantasy character in the Burger place, but that idea fell through. **

**I was also planning to leave Angel out of it until Livid Love, but that plan also snow balled. Her brother, whose name shall not be revealed, will make his first appearance in Livid Love. **

**Hmm…what else? Oh yeah, I got a Nintendo Wii for a "just because" present from my parents. So, I was kind of enjoying it instead of writing this chapter like I should've been…so sorry.**

**I promise I'll make up for it later. Chapters 16, 17, and 18 will all be prewritten before 16 is actually posted. That way, I can post all three chapters quickly. How quick depends on YOU the readers, you see, I know just how many reviews I need…so if all of you review at least once, then we won't have a problem. **

**BUT WAIT. ONE MORE THING. Okay, there are ten people who have this story on their favorites list. But only three of those people have ever REVIEWED this story.**

**Some of the non-reviewers are;**

**1 Dumb Blondie**

**Ananda Guardior **

**Deoxy Phantom**

**Lovell713 and **

**Pips12**

**If any of those people are reading THIS CHAPTER right now, I'm begging you to review. Honestly, I love feed back and I love those who provide feed back. I'm hoping to hear ALL of your opinions on this chapter.**

**I'm not going to give you a preview, because I am too lazy and this author****'s note is **_**way**_** too long already.**


	16. Chapter 16: Man to Man

**-Chapter 16: Man to Man-**

I trip my way through the door, anxiously watching to see if Lexaeus or Zexion are still following me. But the two organization members have faded into the night. I sigh in relief. I notice that the people around me are giving me odd stares, probably because my clothes are torn, and blood covers my lips.

"Namine, where are you?" I hear someone call out. I turn to see Kairi, looking around the waiting room with wild eyes. "Where did you go?" she sinks into her chair.

"Kairi?" I ask, walking up to her. I fall to one knee beside her chair. "What's wrong?"

"N-Namine…I can't find her…she isn't it Roxas' room. She isn't in the waiting room…she didn't leave…her car is still here."

"They took her."

"Organization XIII…one of them—Vexen, I think—attacked me in the bathroom," her voice is low, and I can detect fear. Oddly enough, I'm not picturing her naked, or imagining her in my arms like I usual do…all I can think about is our friends.

"So I wasn't the only one…"

"Sora!" another voice comes, "Kairi! You guys are okay!" I turn to see Sakura, in all her gothic glory.

"Where's Riku?" I ask, automatically. If anything happened to that guy…

"He's getting bandaged up…organization members…they attacked us. I had to tackle Riku so that he wouldn't get shot, but I over did it and he got knocked unconscious." Sakura blushes slightly. "I feel terrible about it."

"He's been through worse," I tell her helpfully.

"He never got hurt when I was with him…" Kairi notes dryly. I turn to her with a raised eyebrow.

But Kairi doesn't say anything else; she just sits there, staring at her feet, red hair falling over her face. "Why did you say that?" I finally ask after a few minutes of silence.

She looks up; "Because it's true."

I shake my head, not really understanding this—her, everything that's going on—not quite getting it. I mean, how can she stay stuff like that when our hearts are shattering and our entire world's falling apart at the seams?

"You like him…love him, don't you?" I ask her. She tries to fake a blank look, but she can't hide her feelings from me. "Riku…my best friend…practically family…you chose _him_ over me!" She doesn't answer, but her eyes…the set of her lips…they show me that it's true. That she DID choose Riku to be hers and hers alone…just like everyone else.

"Sora…" Sakura starts, but I silence her with a look. A strange, icy look that feels wrong on my face.

"You're so selfish," I whisper, turning back to Kairi; and she looks up at me with those big, sweet eyes. A while ago that look would've made me do anything…but now…

"I don't…feel…anything." The words feel so good to say. After all the tears and the self pity…I can't feel anything.

**-Riku-**

"That should do it," the Nurse says, wrapping the bandages around my head. I nod thankfully.

"Thanks," I'll just go then. I sit up, shake the hair out of my eyes, and walk out the door. Surprisingly, the nurse doesn't tell me that I need to rest, apparently the wound wasn't fatal.

I walk towards the waiting room, dodging the scrambling doctors. Something bad has happened. I over hear a quiet conversation, which makes me stop in my tracks.

"It's like the freaking apocalypse out there!" a blonde doctor waves his hands about. "The police station blew up, fires have started up all over town…and no one knows who's doing it."

"There must be some explanation," the other girl says in a bored tone. "Probably terrorists, it's not like, the Zombie attack or anything."

I shiver, walking on.

The waiting room stretches out before me; I immediately notice that Namine and Axel are both missing. "Hey everybody, I'm okay. But where's…?" I stop, noticing that Kairi and Sakura are looking sullen. Sora turns his head slowly, and the look in his eyes his bitter.

He stands up, his eyes filled with that feeling I saw, not so long ago. A blind hatred that seams to consume the Sora I know, the friend who did all my homework the week I was sick, the loveable guy who distracted Kairi while I bought her a last minute anniversary present. No…that boy is gone…leaving only a bitter shadow of what he used to be.

"Riku…" it all seams to happen in slow motion, Sora's fingers curl into a fist…his arm rises towards me…and his knuckles make contact with my face. I fall back, and blood leaks from my nostrils and trails over my lips.

"What the hell?" Sakura gets up and goes to my side. She looks up at Sora, questioning.

"I…I don't know…" Sora says slowly, sitting back down.

Kairi's eyes are wide from where she's sitting.

"Its f-fine," I tell Sakura, getting to my feet and wiping my nose with a couple tissues. Security officers approach, but I assure them that it's alright and we're all just a little on edge.

After they're gone I ask the question that I've been wondering about ever since I got here. "What happened?"

"…The Organization is making its move," Kairi says. "Everybody's been attacked so far. Namine and Axel are both missing, the doctors said that she was found unconscious and two very nice men dragged her off in a gurney. There were no extra rooms in the hospital…because of everything that's been going on, so they took her to the Twilight Town hospital. But I don't think that's where she is…I think she was attacked and captured by the Organization." There's concern in her voice…something different then that flirty tone that she's been speaking to me with lately.

"And Axel…" Sakura whispers, "He probably went to visit Larxene…but they were waiting for him."

"Excuse me," someone says, making all of us turn at once. "You probably remember me; I'm Dr. Yuna, your friend Roxas was admitted earlier?"

"Yeah; why?"

"He just woke up," Dr. Yuna smiles. "You can see him now."

Sakura and Kairi light up and start to stand, but I push them back down. "Hold on, Sora and I will see him first, so that we can have a man-to-man. Right, Sora?" I turn to my…friend.

"Sure," he sighs, getting up. I drag him by the arm towards Roxas' room.

We knock on the door, and the words "come in" sound from behind the wood. We enter the room, with fake smiles. But Roxas can't be fooled.

"What's going on?" he asks this as soon as we enter, and all Sora and I can do is look at each other. "I asked you a question."

"Well…"

**-Roxas- **

We all stood in that white washed room, Riku, Sora, and I. It was sickening to think that I'd missed out on everything that had happened because of one lousy mistake. I wondered desperately if there was any way I could make amends...probably not. But I could try.

I listen intently as my cousin and his friend relay all the details. My mind is racing by the time Sora tells me what happened to Namine. I feel burning anger tearing through me, flames incasing my soul.  
Xemnas…if only I could kill him…

"So you mean to tell me…" I reply, slowly; "that…this whole time…while I was stuck in this stupid bed…my friends were being attacked?" Sora and Riku nod solemnly.

I slam my fist into the bedside table, making a loud thump. I close my eyes, not feeling the pain in my knuckles, only the numbness of the anesthetics inside me.

"Namine and Axel…they could be dead?" I whisper this time.

"Yes," Riku says.

"Huh," I click my tongue a few times before asking the all too important question; "So. What're you two going to do about it?"

"What?" Sora asks, confused. "That doesn't make sense."

"Sure it does. I'm asking what you're going to do. Or are you just going to let them kill Cloud and destroy the Shinra building?" I laugh at their bewildered expressions; "What? Didn't know about that part? Xemnas is ready for a final strike, and he's going to destroy everything. I can't help…I'm stuck in this bed…but you two…you can save the world; or, at least, our friends."

"He has a point," Riku says. "Either we try to save them…and die, or we don't save them, and die."

"Hey, I've got a great idea," Sora says, "why don't we save them, without dying?"

Riku only smiles.

"I approve," I say, laughing slightly.

"Let's go then," Riku says.

"You'll have to infiltrate the Shinra building, evacuate it…get everyone out, especially Cloud. Then if you can get the police on the scene…"

"No. The Police are trying to take care of all the "mysterious" disasters that have been going on. The cops own building exploded," Sora says.

"That could be a problem…maybe if we…"

Riku holds up a hand. "No, we'll think of a plan. You stay here and rest."

The two exit, leaving me alone with my thoughts. But just before Sora passes through the door he turns and gives me a helpful smile; "Don't worry, Rox. We'll save your girl, and we'll kick Xemnas ass, if there's time."

"You do that, Sora, you do that…"

**-Sakura-**

Sora and Riku walk back to us. And Kairi is already standing, ready to visit Roxas. She still cares, I realize, about our friends; even though she has a hell of a way of showing it.

"So? What happened?" I ask them.

"We're going…to fight Xemnas. We're going to save Shinra, and you two are going to hold the fort—"Sora starts, but I interrupt him…

"WHAT? Oh, no, we are NOT going to stay out of this."

Riku turns to me. "Sakura, you have to stay here. You could die if you come with us."

"No! You'll need all the help you can get."

"Sakura…what if you don't make it? How could I live with myself if I survived instead of you?"

His words hit a nerve in me. I close my eyes slightly, before speaking. "R-riku…I understand what you're saying…but I _have_ to do this. Namine has been my best friend forever. I'm not going to sit here and watch my boyfriend kill himself just to protect me."

He looks away.

"I'm coming with you…it's my Destiny," I look around at the other three, Sora, Riku, and Kairi… "It's all of our Destinies. We have to be there, at the Shinra building. I know that that's where it's all going down. We're going to fight Xemnas and his boys…and we're going to win."

I look around; "Have I made myself _perfectly_ clear?"

**A/N This chapter is lousy. There, I said it. Don't bother telling me that it doesn't suck because it does. It hurts my eyes just editing it. **

**Anyway, sorry to anyone who didn't approve of the whole "Xigbar/Demyx" relationship thing; **_**I**_** thought it was funny…**

**ANYWAY; I'd give you a preview of the next chapter, but there's a preview of all of the other chapters posted in my profile. Just go to the news area, and then it should be right there; can't miss it.**

**Oh, and also, I would love to have a couple drawing. Whether it's for Axel/Larxene, Kairi/Sora, Riku/Sakura, Namine/Roxas or even Xemnas/Larxene (shivers). It can be simple, just draw one or more of the couples interacting with each other. I don't care what you do, have them kissing, drinking coffee together, holding hands…or even…doing it (shivers again). I don't care, go crazy. Just make it look nice so that I'll have something to look at for inspiration.**

**Anyway, so the original gang (Sora, Riku, and Kairi, as well as Sakura) are lining up the pieces for a final battle with Xemnas. How will it turn out? How will it end? You'll have to wait to find out…**

**See you next time!**

**Oh, and special thanks to my brand new reader;**** "****imlwjesusfreak****". We'll see about the Sora and Kairi thing…**


	17. Chapter 17: Shatter pt 1, Entrance

**A/N Well, here we are, at part 1 of the three part climax of this story. We've been through so much…and I just… sniffs thanks for sticking with me guys! **

**-Chapter 17: Shatter pt 1 Entrance-**

"_Axel…" Larxene whispered, here eyes glowing in the almost-dark. Rain was pelting her hair, pouring down her cloak. A small puddle was forming at her feet…and all I could do was watch her with my lustful eyes…my lips were quivering in desire…_

"_Yes?" I asked. _

"_I love you…I've always loved you. You've just been too stupid to notice," Larxene laughed impishly, spinning into my arms. _

"_I-I love you too…and yeah…I was a bit dim."_

_She giggled, as my arms wrap around her. "You know, my parents used to tell me something, before they died. It was like a lullaby, a mantra even," she smiled at the far off memory; "They used to tell me I was never alone, that God was always with me. Do you know what they said?" _

"_Huh?"_

_She raises her head, seductively, and whispers into my ear; "God is in the rain…" _

_I close my eyes, feeling the water as it dripped and trickled down my body and my face. "Christ is in the fire…my dad used to tell me that. He's a bit of a pyromaniac." _

"_Hmm…" Larxene murmured as she placed her hands on my face and wipes away two "sky-tears" as she called them. "That's a nice saying; it goes well with mine…we're like a puzzle; we fit together."_

"_I love you, got it memorized?" I asked, in a flirty kind of voice. _

_She giggled, kissing me. _

"_Axel," she whispered, pulling away to lean against my chest._

"_Don't let me go…" and the memory changed. "If you let go, I'll—" _

---

"Axel!" someone says in the distance, shaking me roughly. "Axel! Wake up!"

"Hmm…what is it…?" I murmur, lazily. My eyes open and the darkness becomes alive with soft colors of ebony wood and black stripes.

"We've been captured!" the girl who woke me says—Namine, I realize. "The Organization members attacked us! And Roxas might die…a-and…"

"Namine!" I jump up, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her. "Pull yourself together woman! We can't panic! WE CAN'T PANIC! P-A-N-I-C GOT IT MEMORIZED? IF WE PANIC WE COULD DIE! OF COURSE WE PROBABLY SHOULD PANIC BECAUSE WE'RE GONNA DIE BECAUSE XEMNAS IS GONNA KILL US WHEN HE'S DONE WITH CLOUD AND…OH MY GOD I'M PANICKING!!!"

I run around in a circle, yelling; "Oh god, oh god, oh god!"

"AXEL!" Namine trips me, I fall to the ground, and then she helps me up. "Follow your own advice you idiot!" she slaps me in the face.

There's a couple of seconds of awkward silence until…"Thanks Namine. I needed that."

"You're welcome," she says indignantly, crossing her arms.

"SOOOOOO," I look around the room, it's made of entirely black wood, with white stripes cascading from the ceiling…or rising from the floor…one of those, boxes are all around us; "Where the hell are we?"

"I think we're in Xemnas' mansion."

"Figures…how're we going to get out of here?"

"I don't know," Namine taps her chin, looking around. She suddenly grabs a nearby cardboard box, and drags it to one end of the room. She grabs another, and stacks it on top of the first. She repeats this process with at least five others. Then she starts again, with one at the base of her "box tower" she then stacks four more. She places another box under the shorter "box tower" and starts repeating the process, except this time with three more boxes. She does this until there are five box tours, and then a single box at the very bottom.

"What're you doing?" I ask.

Her only answer is a pointing gesture. I follow her hand and look to where she's pointing. A small window is at the very top of the room (we must be in the basement or something). She begins to use the boxes as stairs. First stepping on the one box "box tower" then the two box one; the three box one; the four box one; the five box one; and finally, the six box one. As she readies herself to crawl through the window, the boxes begin to shudder. She looks down fearfully, as the boxes tumble beneath her.

Namine yelps as she falls to the ground, boxes dive bombing around her. I run towards her and catch her in my arms. She sighs in relief as the boxes fall all around us.

"Hey Namine?" I drag out the word "hey".

"Yeah?"

"I'm feelin' reeeaaaallly horny right now." She gasps and starts squirming around, to the point where I accidentally drop her.

She gazes at me with wide eyes, she starts to blush feverishly.

"Relax, it was a joke. So…how are we getting out of here again?"

**-Sora- **

There we all are; me, Riku, Sakura and Kairi. The four of us are all crouched in the grass. Watching as complete and utter madness takes the Shinra building.

It's a really smart plan, actually. First the "Organization" parked all their shiny cars around the base. A little while later, the fire alarm sounded, and fire works were used to make it look like the building was on fire. As the workers left the Organization members entered, ten of them, for one was missing besides Roxas or Axel.

"So…this is it?" I ask, looking at the others, all around me.

Kairi nods. "We'll sneak in and warn Mr. Cloud before they get to him, easy peasy lemon squeezy."

"What?" Sakura asks with a bewildered expression.

Kairi shifts uneasily; "Saw it in a movie once."

Sakura rolls her eyes as Riku interrupts them; "Look, let's just get in and out, okay? There's only…ten of them. If we're careful we can SO beat them to Mr. Cloud. All we have to do is get to _that _tower," he points to the building I the center of all the others, it rises like a sky scraper and is built like an old fashioned castle.

"That's a long way to go," Sakura notes dryly. "If anyone wants to turn back, they better do it now. Because once we go in that building, there's no going back."

"I'm in," I say automatically.

"I go anywhere you go," Riku says, looking at Sakura with soft eyes.

"Let's go," Kairi says, standing up.

We follow her lead, running down towards the Shinra building, choosing to enter from the North building instead of the south building, unlike the Organization members.

"Let's fight," Sakura says, with a half smile, as we proceed through the dark hallway.

**-Namine- **

I look around, searching for any kind of exit from this room. But there is none. The boxes will just topple over under my weight again if I try that window…the door's locked…god…we're trapped in here.

"GAW!" I moan, falling onto my butt; "It's hopeless, there's no way out," I say quietly.

"Don't give up," Axel says with a sigh, even though he doesn't sound too hopeful himself. "There's got to be a way out of here. Or mine name isn't Shirley Temple."

"But your name isn't—"

"Hello?" someone says from behind the door. "Axel? Namine? You two there?" the voice sounds vaguely familiar.

"Who's asking?" Axel asks.

The door unlocks with a click and a pink haired man in the standard "black cloaked" Organization uniform makes his entrance.

"MARLUXIA?!" Both Axel and I exclaim at the exact same time.

"Yeah, yeah," the girly-guy says, grabbing the pyromaniac and me by the arm. "C'mon, there's not much time. Xemnas is attacking the Shinra building. And you've got to be there. It's going to be _so_ fun!"

"Why are you helping us?" Axel asks, shrugging Marluxia off of him.

"Oh, no reason. I just want you to see the show," the pink haired teen winks. "Believe me, something VERY surprising is going to happen."

**-Sakura-**

I feel the darkness all around me, for the Shinra building's power has been cut (yet another one of Xemnas' brilliant plans). I walk, with Riku by my side. He grabs my hand suddenly, making me hesitate for a quick second, before squeezing his palm and continuing on.

"How close are we?" I ask Kairi. She has a flash light and is using it to read "The Shinra Map".

"We're close…just a few more turns…"

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Riku and _Sakura_," someone says in front of us. We all look up, to see Demyx and Xigbar.

"Oh no, not _you _two again," Riku says, exasperated.

"You bet your bottom dollar, dude," Xigbar says, raising twin guns at us.

**-Axel-**

Marluxia left a while ago, to follow the other Organization members through the North entrance, Namine and I, however are taking the west passage. Well, at least, _I_ am.

"You're not coming, Namine, and that's final," I yell at her.

"Oh, don't give me that," she says in her quiet voice, "I'm going; and I'm going now." She walks past me and my gaping mouth. I remember when she used to do everything that I said…but then, she was only seven or so…

"C'mon Axel!" she motions to me from halfway down the corridor. "It's dark; I don't think I can find the tower without help."

"What if I refuse? And I just make you stay outside while _I _go beat Xemnas' ass?"  
"Then you'll have Roxas to deal with for leaving me out in the cold."

"Right."

I touch her shoulder and lead her into the darkness. "But wait, won't he get madder if I lead you into danger and you die?"

"Uh…heheh…no?"

**-Riku-**

Sakura leaps into action, she dives headfirst, sliding over the floor and crashing into Xigbar's legs. The sharp shooter falls to the ground, bringing Demyx down with him. Sakura stands and presses her finger to first Xigbar's then Demyx' pressure points. The two fall unconscious almost instantly.

"Well, that was easy," she says, getting up.

"Was it?" A voice asks, she turns, to a gun barrel pointed at her head. "Hello, I don't think we've met, I'm Saix."

**A/N I met for there to be more action in this chapter, but that plan kind of…fell through. Don't worry though; I'll try to keep the next chapter action packed!**

**Oh, and I've also changed my mind about pre-writing. I just can't do it. When I have a chapter done I just want to show the world. So, you'll see the next chapters the moment after they've been ****edited.**

**So, I know a couple people said that Sora was a little OOC in the last chapter, with punching Riku and all that. Well, my question to you is, what would you have done in that situation; any of you? What if YOUR best friend had stolen YOUR girlfriend without meaning too? What if that same best friend already had a gorgeous girlfriend that you had no hope of getting? Then throw in the fact that your cousin could die (all though, that was resolved in the last chapter) and you've got a story.**** Sure, Sora's usually pretty level headed…but in a situation like this what is he supposed to do?**

**Exactly…even people like Sora can flip out, even guys like Roxas can be selfish, and even mellow dudes like Axel can panic the hell out of something! And yes, during his dream sequence I MEANT to put everything in past tense. **

**See you next chapter!**


	18. Chapter 18: Shatter pt 2, Betrayal

**A/N Brace yourself for part two! **

**-Chapter 18: Shatter pt 2, Betrayal-**

I walk quietly, Riku and Kairi on either side of me, Demyx and Xigbar behind us, Sakura and Saix (his gun still trained to her head) is in the front of the procession. They think that she's the most dangerous one of us…and that's kind of true, her fighting skills are…

Well basically it makes me and Riku look like sissy girls. It turns us into whining babies…tiny girl dolls…pussies…

'_Okay, okay, enough with the sissy stuff…I have to think of a way out of here…think, Sora, think!' _

I look around, trying to see some kind of way out.

But there is none, even if Riku and I tried some wild rebellion type move, Xigbar and Demyx have _guns_.

'_But that didn't stop Sakura…' _I think to myself in shame; _'she fights and she fights…but no one ever helps,' _I turn to Riku, his head bent. He made no move to save Sakura…he's too weak.

But I'm not weak. I can save her, I can save everyone; I just have to think of a plan…

**-Namine-**

"Uh oh…"

That's all I can say as I look around at the Organization members, they surround us from all sides. They're everywhere…

"Wrong room," Axel says with wide eyes. He tried to grab me and run, but Xemnas stops him with a simple click of his tongue.

"Now, now; Axel, you can't run. You just got here after all…and you wouldn't want your _girlfriend _to die while you were gone?" He looks at Larxene with a dark smirk. "She's too precious to die…aren't you?" The blonde girl has her head down, looking at something in her palm.

"What is that?" Zexion asks, stepping closer for a look.

"It's nothing!" Larxene says quickly, closing her hand into a tight fist.

"Oh it's…"

**-Riku-**

"…something," the voice of Xemnas reaches my ears. It makes me cringe, makes me want to hit something in blind furry…it makes me want to hide. So many emotions; triggered by just one person…an evil person.

The three Organization members guide us into a dark room, lit only by a single light bulb. The walls are covered in pictures of two people…one with spiky blonde hair, the other with soft brown; a man and a woman…Aerith and Cloud; both of them looking vibrant and ecstatic in their happiness. There are all kinds of pictures of them, the happy couple; but suddenly…Aerith disappears from them, the remaining pictures are farther away, of Cloud and his business colleagues; the smile on his face is gone, replaced by a cold and revolting scowl.

I was watching the news the day it happened…the anchor woman had been speaking to a broken Cloud. His eyes had held sadness…endless pain that stretched on and on, from here to oblivion. He had told the lady of how his wife, Aerith, had died last night, at the hands of a mysterious silver haired boy…

Xemnas.

The three organization members push us to the back of the room, where—

"AXEL! NAMINE! You guys are okay!" Sora says with a slight happiness.

But how long will they be okay? How long can we survive with a room full of murderers and mad men? How can we live when it's all about to end?

"Well, everyone's almost here…" Xemnas says, "Except…the guest of honor."

The black coated teenagers step aside, revealing a blonde haired man, clad in leather. He's handcuffed, and two men are holding his shoulders; Xaldin and Luxord.

"Oh…" Xemnas says, pointing his gun at Cloud. "I've waited _so_ long for this moment…let me relish in it," he inhales, as if tasting the evil that he's about to commit. How can he just sit there calmly when he's about to consume an innocent life?

**-Axel- **

I stand there, frozen as I watch Xemnas about to do it…finally end it, finally destroy Cloud and burn Shinra to the ground. And all I can do is stand there, stand there and hope to god that he gets what he deserves some day.

I want him to die…that's the sad thing. I want it so bad, I can't stand it. I know that it's evil to want death, to beg for it…but I just do. I want him to pay for what he's done to me and Larxene, Roxas and Namine…all of them.

"This is how it ends…any final words, Mr. Cloud?" Xemnas says manically.

"I have a few," it is Marluxia who speaks; he punches Xemnas, right in the face. The silver haired mastermind spins in place, before falling.

A few Organization members; Zexion, Lexaeus, Demyx and Xigbar, move like lightning. They disarm the other members, pushing them to the ground; Lexaeus shoots me in the leg. A terrible agony shoots across my thigh, I cry out…

In the commotion, Xemnas crawls, to get his gun.

Just as he's about to grab it, Marluxia places a firm foot on it. "Here are your final words, Xemnas. Don't _ever _let your guard down. Do you hear me? But I guess it doesn't matter now."

"W-why, Marluxia…I thought you were my…" Xemnas looks up at his former companion with bewilderment. He can't believe that one of his own friends is doing this to him. That's what hurts him…makes him bleed.

"Because, Xemnas…the Organization is under new leadership. Oh and," he gazes down at Xemnas, pointing his pistol into the teen's forehead; "you're fired." He pulls the trigger, and the sound echoes all throughout the room, ringing and tearing and flaming and burning. I close my eyes, hearing a sound like squelching flesh.

Xemnas' head rests upon Marluxia's foot. The pink haired teen steps away, just as blood begins to flow about, in a thick and dark puddle or shining scarlet.

**-Sakura-**

I look around, at Sora, Namine, Kairi, Riku, Axel, and Larxene. All of them just stand there, eyes glistening with horror. What they just saw…it's…

Death.

Horrible, sickening, grey and destructive. It's the end, complete and final. And it has come for Xemnas.

This is it…the Grim Reaper, the big bad, the ultimate sacrifice…

"Subdue them," Marluxia says; a smile on his face. "It's almost over." He turns to Cloud, who has moved in front of us, as if to protect us with his body. "I guess I should complete Xemnas' final wish…to pay my respects," he smiles a twisted smile. And then I know, without a doubt…Marluxia is absolutely insane.

"You'll pay for what you've done," Cloud says in a quiet voice, "they always do."

I let my shoe fall from my foot, I wait as Marluxia raises his gun, I wait as he places a finger on the trigger…I wait a second before the shot, before I send my shoe flying. The little black converse sails into Cloud's head, and its surprising momentum knocks him to the ground.

The bullet collides with the wall.

I hold my ears, the sound echoing through my mind.

"How dare you!" Marluxia shouts, his voice breaking into a girly shriek on the last word. "We'll SEE how you like it then, you bitch," he points his pistol at me this time.

Now I'm out of ideas…I stand there, complete shock on my face. I saved a life…just to lose mine.

"Sakura, no!" Riku and Sora shout at the exact same time. But I try to ignore them; I close my eyes, willing whatever's coming to come.

After all the pain, all the suffering…after the enchantments and the spells…after all the emotions…it's finally over. I can finally rest…

"No, not again!" someone yells, just as Marluxia laughs in a sickeningly insane sort of way.

I feel someone tackle me, just as the earsplitting shriek of the bullet cascades into my mind.

I hit the ground, my eyes flashing open. There's no pain in my chest, no blood pouring down my face. Nothing, I'm completely unharmed…but who saved me?

I look up…and scream.

**-Axel-**

'_No! No, no, no, no, no, no,_ _no,_ _no!' _

"LARXENE!" she is standing there, where Sakura used to be, her eyes clouded over with pain. Her hands grasping at a place near her heart. Blood is pumping down her chest.

"Why?" Marluxia asks, confused. "You could've lived…"

"It's what…friends…do…" she whispers, and her hand unclenches. It all happens in slow motion then, a black star falls from her fingers, hitting the floor with a small ping.

She falls then, her body hitting the ground with a thump.

"NO!"

I crawl towards her, pain shooting through my leg, cementing it in agony from where I was shot. I reach her, just as Marluxia and the others hear sirens.

"Boss," Zexion says, "it's time to go."

"Yes, of course," Marluxia says, distractedly. And then, just like lightning, the traitorous Organization members leave.

But I can't hear any of that…every thing is in slow motion, all of the others, frozen in place with shock. The loyal Organizers, getting to their feet…Larxene…slowly dying.

"No, please, no! Don't die on me, Larx. Don't you dare die on me." I meant for it to be forceful, a command to God, to let her survive, but it comes out as a whisper, impossibly feeble in this dark world.

"I-I…don't think…I…have a choice…no choice…"

"Please, don't…I'm sorry…I'm sorry I couldn't save you," I choke out, as tears begin to pour down my face. I don't even try to wipe them off.

I can feel it…an invisible fire twisting and turning in Larxene's chest. And it's being snuffed out.

"A-Axel…don't," she whispers, "I…love you…"

"No, no please…"

"I'm sorry…I just…I had to say it one last time…"

"Don't apologize…it's going to be okay, I promise…someone get an ambulance!" I scream out. Kairi hurriedly pulls out her cell phone and dials.

"I-it's no use, they…made it so there would be n-no…reception," I notice Cloud, looking at the dying teenager with sad eyes. He felt like this once…not so long ago…this is how it must have been like to watch her—Aerith, die…

"Hurry!" Kairi says, into her phone. Thank god, it's working, "We need an ambulance…"

"You're going to be okay," I tell her.

"N-no…I'm not," she tries to smile, but she's shaking far too much. "I-I'm sorry Axel…" her eyes begin to droop.

"Don't! _Please_ don't! I love you! I've always loved you! I always will…" but she isn't responding, she's drifting further and further away…"God is in the rain…" I whisper, her classic phrase.

"C-Christ…is in…the fire…" she whispers back, her energy slowly trickling away.

"Hurry, get here fast, someone's been shot…"

**A/N CLIFF HANGER ALERT! Sorry that it's so short. Yeah, this is the climax of the story. Gosh…I hope I pulled this off right…**

**Please tell me it doesn't suck! Well, I mean, be honest and all…**

**The next chapter will be the after math. You'll have to wait to see if Larxene survives in the next chapter. I mean, I know it sounds like she's going to die, but you may be surprised. **

**I bet you thought that someone in the KH gang (da good guys). But it was actually Marluxia who betrayed Xemnas!**

**Review!**


	19. Chapter 19: Shatter pt 3, Aftermath

**A/N Chapter 19…here it comes!**

**Chapter 19: Shatter pt 3, Aftermath **

'_God is in the rain…'_

I can still hear her voice, even though she's gone. Yeah, that's right…she's gone…Larxene's…

I shake my head quickly, trying to banish those horrible thoughts. I can't cry…there are no tears left…but the pain is horrible. All I can do is stand there, in that stupid waiting room.

I got to see Roxas…that was good, I guess. I tried to look like a man in front of him, but I couldn't. I cried…hard. And he patted me on the back.

The waiting room is still stuffy and white, filled with sick people and those who care about them. But still…something's changed…not just in this hospital, but everywhere. Anything that could go wrong has…

'_I…love you.' _

She's gone, Larxene, the love of my life…is gone. I'll just have to accept that. I have to be strong, for everybody.

'_She died in your arms you know," the cop said, as if this was a good thing; 'did she have any last words?'_

'_S-she said…she said…' _

Everyone is in the living room, Sora, at a loss for words…Sakura, frozen in shock, with Riku holding her hand. Namine is in the corner, reading a magazine, and trying not to cry. Kairi has her arms folded neatly in her lap, and her foot is tapping against the floor in a repeated rhythm.

Clip-clap, Clip-clap…she's dead, she's dead…Clap-clap, Clap-clap…your fault, your fault; it's as if the beats are speaking to me…accusing me.

'_What did she say, boy?" Cloud asked in that quiet voice, standing next to the cop with his arms folded. He knew what she said, he was there…but he wanted me to say it._

'_She said…that she loved me.' _

That was true, just as I heard the sirens of the ambulance, she said those three magical words, and was gone. All I could do was sit there, too broken to cry and too grieved to get up.

I sit down next to Sora, biting my lip.

'_Axel…I'm so sorry,' Sakura said. 'It's my fault…that she…'_

'_No. It's not your fault…it's mine.'_

If I'd been a better person, if I'd lived a good life; she would still be here. If I'd never joined Xemnas' little club, she'd still be mine. She would come to me, we would be in love and get married someday, we would have two kids; a boy and a girl; Mike and Ellie, and then we would grow old together, and she would show our wedding pictures to our grand kids…and I'd always be there, to hold her hand. I would die first, because I deserve too, and she would live a short while after.

And that would be that.

'_Are her parents on the way?' the doctor asked._

'_No…she was an orphan,' I answered in a shaky voice._

'_Did she have any other family?'_

'_No…s-she…lived all alone,' I whispered, and my voice cracked and tears poured down my face._

But now…that future…that path is gone…closed, blocked, and destroyed.

"Y-you guys should go home," I finally say, trying to break through the heavy silence that surrounds us.

"No!" everyone says, all at once.

There's another short silence, before Namine breaks it; "Axel…will you be…?"

"I'm fine," I say, with resolve. Even though…even though…

'_She's gone,' the paramedic said, trying to find a pulse on her. 'We can't pronounce her dead…only full fledge doctors can do that, but…I can tell you that she's gone, and she won't be coming back.'_

**-Riku-**

"I need to clear my head," I say, suddenly. "Sakura, can you come with me?"

"S-sure," her voice is small, defeated. She thinks that it should have been HER who met her end hours ago. She thinks that she should've been the one to die.

Sakura stands up, her fits clenched, and follows me outside. I sit on the guardrail, trying my best to admire the stars. But they don't seam to hold their usual emotions or significance. They're just beacons of light in a shroud of darkness, far away things that I'll never reach.

"Riku…" she says, sitting beside me. "What's wrong…well…what isn't wrong? That's what I should be asking," she smiles ruefully.

"…You could've died…"

"Yes."

"And you're okay with that?" I demand, suddenly angry.

"No…I'm not okay with anything, but that's just the way it is. There's nothing we can do to change what's already happened. So why try?"

"That's not the point," I turn to her; staring straight into those dark, dark eyes. She looks back at me defiantly, not at all put off. "Marluxia almost _killed _you Sakura. Why doesn't this matter to you? Don't you care about yourself, about us? Is this some kind of suicidal death wish?"

"No! Riku…my own safety doesn't matter…why can't you see that?"

"God, you think you know everything when really you don't know _anything_. Maybe your own death wouldn't matter to you, but it sure as hell would matter to me!"

"Well it shouldn't! I tried to save everyone! But I couldn't, Larxene—"

"This isn't _about_ Larxene!"

"Yes it is, Riku! She's dead! D-e-a-d, DEAD! Nothing can bring her back and it's all my fault. I tried to save a complete stranger and ended up killing _her._ What kind of selfish bitch does that?"

We get closer and closer together, our voices rising in volume. All I can do is glare at her. Doesn't she know that losing her would kill me?

"It has nothing to do with that, Sakura. You have to listen to me…it's not your fault."

"I wish I could believe that. But I can't—"

"Hey you two," someone interrupts; "everyone's waiting for you guys inside, what're you—"it's Kairi, her hair floating slightly in the wind. Her eyes widen, seeing that my face and hers are so close together. "Oh; of course."

Her face turns red. "You're making out at a time like this?"

"We're not…" Sakura says; her voice barely above a whisper. She's looking at her feet, as if the answers to life itself are contained inside those super-black tenne shoes.

"It looks like you are," Kairi shoots back, walking closer. "Look at you and your smug little face. Don't even deny it; you want him to kiss you right now, and the only thing that's stopping you from doing JUST that is me."

"Stop trying to use this to make her feel guilty," I throw back at her. She steps back slightly, her eyes widening even more. "Stop trying to make me fall for you, _I don't like you._ Okay? Do you get it now? I'm over you, I've found something new, go back to Sora, before it's too late."

"I don't want Sora! I want you! Can't you realize what she is," she motions to Sakura, who is looking away; "She's selfish. She only cares about getting guys, not about Larxene, NOT about you, not about _anyone."_

"Maybe you need to accept that this isn't just about you and your school-girl crushes!" I scream at her, she steps back again; "Sora's the perfect guy for you, and yet you choose me over him. Why? Why would you do that? I'm not right for you…I was _never _right for you. So go the fuck away," I grab Sakura and drag her past a shocked and frozen Kairi.

**-Roxas-**

"So it's true…she's really…" Namine nods. I sigh.

"She was…one of my friends back then."

"I know," Namine says, "Larxene was really nice to me when the Organization kidnapped me back then…her and Axel. I think Axel left the Organization a little while after he found out I was held there against my will."

"Good old Ax—Wait, how is he taking this?"

"He says he's alright, but I don't think he is…"

"I know what you mean."

I lean forward, catching Namine's mouth with mine. "What're we going to do?" she murmurs against my lips as my tongue probes her mouth.

"We keep everyone together…"

**-Sora-**

I fill my tray with hospital food, cringing at the smell of the healthy meat stuff. I sit down on a nearby bench, forking chicken into my mouth, and drinking down Soda.

My fingers absentmindedly play with the silver necklace I'm wearing. It's a gift, a gift from Kai—

I close my eyes tight, as they start to water. It hurts to even think about her, this necklace—with it's silver crown design and finely made chain—was an anniversary present.

I can't believe I still love her—

"I remember you," the voice strikes me like a whip. I whirl around, and to my amazement, I see…

"Angel?"

The red eyed girl nods, a small smile on her face; "Oh, so you remember me too? Why is it that we always meet in places with food?"

"Who knows?" I try to form a cheesy smile, but it just doesn't come. With Larxene and all…death is too real to joke about. "So…um…how's your brother…" I realize that she never told me his name.

"Alex?"

"Yeah, him…"

"I didn't tell you his name before," she nods, as if she read my mind; "I forget things; a lot. It's a miracle I didn't forget you," she smiles.

"I'm forgettable?" I ask, faking outrage.

She laughs slightly. "Not to regular people."

When she says that it sounds weird, as if she doesn't think she's a regular person. "So…um…why are you at the hospital?"

"Alex broke his hand; he punched out a guy for looking at me wrong."

I laugh, but she doesn't; as if it's not a joke. I blink a few times, willing the awkward silence to go away.

"Well, I have to go," she finally says.

Angel stands up and starts to walk away.

"H-hey, wait!" I call out, she stops and almost turns. "Can I ask for some advice from you?"

"Sure."

"If…someone you loved, treated you like dirt…if they chose your best friend over you, what would you do?"

"I'd get Alex to kick their ass…but that's a girl's point of view," she muses for a moment, her eyes becoming suddenly hazy; "I'd make them pay."

Her eyes clear and she smiles. "Have a nice day," and then Red-Eyed-Angel is gone. Leaving me confused.

**-Axel- **

I'm drinking down a cup of water, letting the sweet liquids slip down my throat smoothly and completely. I sigh, looking around, trying to see the beauty in something…but it's just not there.

'_Larxene's gone…her death made the world darker,' _I tell myself silently. "It made everything ugly."

"What?" someone asks behind me. I turn to see Namine, her skin pale in the hospital-lights.

"Nothing," I sigh, taking another drink.

"Axel…" she begins, and then stops. She searches in her mind for something to say, but nothing comes. I close my eyes slightly, trying to get a sense of peace in my mind…but it's so hard…

"Axel," she tries again, "are you…are you really okay?"

"I'm fine!" I snap.

"No, you're not," It doesn't come out like a command or anything, more like a quiet accusation.

'_Is it true?' _I ask myself. Am I really okay? Can I really go on living without…

'_Larxene…'_

'_I love you…' _

'_God is in the rain.' _

'_Save me…'_

'_Axel, Xemnas will kill you.'_

'_I love you, so much.' _

'_Axel...'_

'_Larxene...'_

'_God is in the rain…'_

I look away quickly, the barrage of memories giving me a headache. I close my eyes against the pain that flows through my skin, wells in my eyes.

A tear pricks in my eyes, just as the cup falls from my hand. The glass shatters all over the floor, an explosion of water touching Namine's shoes.

"I-I'm sorry," I sink to the floor, my knees making a loud smacking noise. I try to use my own shirt to clean it up, but it just spreads. "I'm sorry, oh god, I've ruined your shoes…I can't do _anything_ right," I scrub at the water feverishly.

"Axel," she tries.

"Damn, I'm such a screw up!" I pound my fist into the floor, making another small blast of water. "Sorry! Sorry…god I'm just…I'm a freaking mess…"

"AXEL!" she falls to the ground beside me. "Stop it, stop it, and stop it! You know that you're in pain, so stop denying it!"

I look at her for a frozen second, her blonde hair that is so much like Larxene's, her pale skin that resembles my loves. "Oh Namine…I…I just…"

She grabs me in a hug, and I cry again. "I'm not okay," I whisper again and again into her shoulder; "I'm not…why did she do this? She didn't even think about what would happen to us—me—if she was gone! And I…it's all my fault, and I hate her for leaving…and I'm…I'm a terrible person…" the tears won't go away.

"Axel…" Namine whispers, tears flowing from her own eyes. "I know it's hard but…we have to get through this okay…we can't just regret her death all our lives. I know she died hours ago and you should have time to mourn…but…"

"I know Namine. I get it," I hug her closer; "I'm not okay."

**A/N An alternative title for this chapter could be; "Chapter 19: I'm not okay". This is probably the most emotional chapter in the entire story. The only thing left is the epilogue. Ah…so close.**

**I hope I got all the emotional crap down and all that. PLEASE give me feedback on that.**

**THERE'S BEEN ONLY ONE RESPONSE TO THE "COUPLE PICTURE" THING! I NEED THIS PICTURE, FOLKS!!! For those of you who don't know, the couple picture is a picture drawn by you (points at reader) that consists of one of our pictures. It could be Sakura and Riku, Roxas and Namine, Sora and Kairi (before there troubles started), or Axel and Larxene (before she died); or any other couple. Hell, you could do freaking Demyx and Xigbar for all I care. JUST DO SOMETHING!**

**Well, Ciao for now!**


	20. Epilogue: Sunset

**A/N This is it…**

**Epilogue: Sunset**

'_I close my eyes, feeling the water as it dripped and trickled down my body and my face. "Christ is in the fire…my dad used to tell me that. He's a bit of a pyromaniac." _

"_Hmm…" Larxene murmured as she placed her hands on my face and wipes away two "sky-tears" as she called them. "That's a nice saying; it goes well with mine…we're like a puzzle; we fit together."_

"_I love you, got it memorized?" I asked, in a flirty kind of voice._

_She giggled, kissing me. _

"_Axel," she whispered, pulling away to lean against my chest._

"_Don't let me go…" and the memory changed. "If you let go, I'll fall…"_

_Suddenly, I'm forced away, my back making contact with something hard. "LARXENE!" I called out, but all she does is smile a sad smile, before fading into nothing._

"_No…please…I NEED her!" I pleaded to no one in particular, but everything turned dark, color bled away, I woke up._

---

My eyes flash open as I sit up in bed, breathing heavily. I blink a few times, adjusting to the waking world. I'm covered in cold sweat, and my hair went flat over night.

Tears prick at my eyes; "That wasn't real…none of it…she isn't dead…no one's out to get you or her. Listen to me Axel, Larxene is alive…got it memorized?"

But I can't convince myself. It felt so real…all of it.

"Axel!" someone calls.

"Larxene?" I stare at my closed door, daring to hope. I close my eyes, willing it to be her. Please, god, please just do this one thing for me…

I hear the door open; "Roxas wanted me to tell you that breakfast is ready…" I open one eye and see…

Namine.

"Oh…okay…I'll be there in a sec," the blonde nods before leaving. I close my eyes tightly, tears pouring down my face. "Can't let Roxas see you like this…he'll freak out and act all parent-y," I tell myself.

But even after I get up, even after I look at my blood shot eyes in the mirror, even after I eat breakfast with Roxas and Namine…I can still feel Larxene between my arms, crushed against my chest.

**-Sakura-**

It's the afternoon, all of us are heading down to The Islands; a small cluster of land masses where Sora, Kairi, Riku, Tidus, Selphie and Wakka all used to hang out. We're supposed to play around on the beach and then watch the sunset…

I'm a little scared to see Axel. What if he blames me for Larxene now? What if…what if he hates me?

And what about Riku; where do we stand? Are we still dating…or are we broken up? I don't know…he acts like he still loves me; at least around Kairi. But I can't deny that, this feeling I have, is love…deep and confusing and illogical…almost obsession but not quite. Since the first time I met him I've liked him, but it was only a slight attraction then, nothing big. But now, now it's become all too important.

I don't think I could stand it if I lost him. It must hurt so much for Axel; to have lost the one person he cared about more then anything…I can't even imagine it.

"Sakura…" Selphie says waving a hand in front of my face; "you're spacing out again."

"What—oh, sorry," I dodge a short man that I almost tripped over. I pause a second, before continuing on. Kairi is walking on Selphie's other side…she's been a complete and total wreck ever since Riku…ever since I came here really.

I've caused so much trouble, just like I always do. Except this time, it's ended in death. I'm doomed to cause tragedy and horror to everyone I care about. I'm nothing but a problem.

"Hey guys," Sora says, after turning around the corner. He appeared out of nowhere, and I almost slam into him.

"Whoops, sorry, spaced out…again."

Sora shakes his head; "That's okay Sakura. It was my fault," and when he looks at me I see a momentary glint in his eyes, a same wanting and desire that I've seen many times before.

Could it be that…he…Sora likes—No, impossible; he and I—no, him and Kairi BELONG together; that's how it's always been. Namine knows it, Roxas knows it…everyone knows it.

"Are the others with you?" I ask, forgetting my thoughts.

"Yeah, they should be coming around the corner any minute now…"

A second later, Roxas, Namine, and Axel finally appear. I look for Riku, but he's nowhere to be seen. I sigh mournfully. He must be avoiding me, definitely a break up sign.

"I guess…we should get going then—"Roxas says, but is interrupted.

"Sakura!" someone yells.

I turn; my eyes wide.

Riku is there, running towards me. His muscular legs propel him in my direction, his silver hair is flowing behind him and his eyes are glowing with something…a feeling that grips me in iron fingers. Is it—?

He slams into me, his lips and mine collide together. There's an awkward silence, before I'm drawn into the kiss, consumed by it. His arms tighten around my body; he leans in farther, driving his tongue through me.

"I'm…sorry…" he whispers, between kisses, "I'm…sorry…for avoiding…you…I…didn't know…if you wanted…to break up with me…do you?"

I kiss him back, letting my own tongue mingle with his; "N-no…I would never…I…love you, Riku…never leave me…ever."

"A-agreed…" he kisses me again, and I feel his fingers on my bare arms, and their touch is like a thousand volts of electricity, lighting me up like a Gothic Christmas Tree.

"I…"

"Love…"

"…you."

I smile against his lips and he smiles against mine. A couple minutes—hours, days, years?—later we break apart. We look around, to see the shocked stares of our friends.

"Sorry for the hold up," Riku grins, "I had business."

"We can see that," Selphie and Tidus say at the exact same time.

"Where's Wakka?" I ask, desperate to change the subject.

"Don't know," Tidus says; "he told me he wouldn't be able to make it."

There's a short silence, before; as if on cue, we all start moving. Sora waves his hands in the air frantically; "Wait! We need to wait for Angel!"

"Who?" everyone asks.

"She's a…friend…" he looks around halfheartedly, "I guess…she's not coming." He sighs, glumly. Then we're all moving again. A part of me wonders who this Angel girl is…maybe a Kairi replacement? But another part (the majority) is begging for Riku's lips, screaming for them. I want to kiss him, now more then ever.

As we pass into the Destiny Islands shopping center, I see a coffee shop over Riku's shoulder. I turn and look, noticing a familiar face.

There, right by the window, is Wakka and Miss Lulu, chatting away. She's smiling (I've never seen her smile before) and he's grinning like his life depends on it.

Then suddenly, the teacher closes the space between them, kissing him on the lips. My eyes widen as I watch. Then Wakka breaks away and notices me staring. He looks at me with wide eyes, begging me to forget about it.

I nod, and wink, before turning back.

Well, at least Wakka's happy. And I am too…because Riku just grasped his hands in mine, and I felt a blush on my cheeks, and he kissed me just for the hell of it.

**-Roxas-**

We finally arrive at the Islands. We all move mechanically, Tidus tries to play pass back with Selphie, but abandons the attempt. She runs towards him, and they start kissing, before falling into the water with a splash.

Namine and I sit on the Palm Tree, and its outstretched branch, Riku is leaning against it, with Sakura in his arms. Axel is sitting a little ways to the left, his legs crossed, looking burnt and broken.

I can see Destiny. Axel takes the form of withering flames, exasperated, destroyed…black.

Namine looks like sunshine and art and beauty, dancing about in a tornado of brilliance. I kiss her cheek, and she strokes the side of my face.

I can see Riku from this angle, in all of his bravado. He looks like darkness, tempting, screwy…misunderstood. I close my eyes, noticing how he and the shadow that is Sakura fit perfectly together, like a puzzle.

Somewhere far away, I can see Larxene, no longer substantial, a lost equation in the great math problem that is Destiny. She is the remainder, the random factor…the lost number.

It's sad, that Axel has to go through all this pain. I wish there was something I could do to help, but there just isn't. I try and I try to give, but I only end up screwing stuff up even more. So, for the time being, I'm staying out of it—everything.

"Oh god…" Namine says, cocking her head to one side.

I look where she's looking, at Sora, standing motionless as the water washes over his bare feet. And behind him, an approaching cloud of painted fire.

"Kairi—"

**-Sora-**

"What're you doing here?" I ask, before she can even say anything. My voice feels cold and disconnected, even to my own ears.

"I came too…I mean I—I don't know," she finishes, lamely. I sigh, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. I'm not like that, if anything I should hear her out.

My fingers fumble absentmindedly with my anniversary necklace, the tiny silver crown with my name engraved. It smells like her, when I touch it I can almost feel her lips on mine…I can almost taste her.

It's poisoned with memories.

I watch as the sun starts to set, the sky becoming a barrage of pinks and reds, looking almost evil against the now-black clouds.

"I want us to…go back. I want to be how we used to be," she says, with force, as if it's a command. That's so typical of her.

"We'll never be how we were," I say, almost coldly. It would be icy if I could get my voice to do that. But no, all I can do is try to be optimistic about this. All I can do is stand here and pretend that I don't want Kairi to love me.

But that's a lie.

I want her so bad that it hurts. I still need her, even though she tore my heart to pieces.

"But why can't we be? I'm apologizing!" she says, as if I didn't know that already.

I consider telling her that I still love her, that I still want her. But instead I shake my head; "Is that supposed to mean something? Did Riku tell you to say all this?"

She's silent, for once. I've probably hit a nerve.

"Do me a favor and—"

"Sora, I love you," she whispers, from behind me. I turn, small splashes of water surrounding my feet. The ocean has become black, just as the sky has…just like my heart.

"Kairi…no, you can't just love someone and then stop loving them…that's not how it works."

"But Sora—"

"Quiet!" I tell her, turning, suddenly angry. "No, no, no, no, no, NO! I _DON'T_ want to be with you. I _DON'T_ want you to love me and I. Don't. Need. You." The words are so good to say, they feel like magic on my lips.

She shakes her head, and her eyes are sad. And she turns, and I turn. My hands dance over the crown-necklace, feeling my name, engraved into the silver.

"Kairi, wait."

She turns, hope in her eyes.

"You can have this back," I unclasp the necklace, holding it out and letting it fall into the sand. She stares at it for a few moments, eyes wide with shock.

She mouths a single word; "No…" and then she snatches it from the ground. She turns and runs, tears pouring down her face.

And I feel great.

**-Namine-**

She runs past, red hair flying in the wind, her sobs echoing all around. I start to follow her, but Roxas grabs my hand, shaking his head.

"No. She needs to be alone."

I accept that, falling back onto my seat. Nearby, Tidus and Selphie are making out in the water, Axel is leaning against the wood…Riku is kissing Sakura's neck. None of them seem to care that Kairi's in pain.

None of them want to care.

I squeeze Roxas' hand. We both know that our friends aren't okay. We both know that it'll take awhile to be okay.

We have a few months left of school, before graduation. Surely that's enough time to save our friendships…right?

I push my face closer to Roxas', I soak in the Destiny that surrounds him. I absorb the never ending flames that make him.

"Roxas…"

"Namine…"

"I love you."

And then we're kissing.

**The End**

**A/N Well, I thought I'd end it on a sad yet happy note. Mostly sad, sorry SoKai fans. I might make it up in Livid Love. Who knows, they could get back together…you'll have to wait and see. **

**Thanks to everyone who's reviewed. I'm so glad that we went through this together. An entire story of Teen Angst and hardships. I don't think that I could've done it alone.**

**So I ask only one more thing from you. You see, after I'm done editing this story I'm going to print it out, in its entirety. Then I'm going to put it in one of those clear folders and then I'm going to label it "Rocky Relationships". But, to do this, I'm going to need a cover for it. **

**That's where you come in. Loyal readers…you can draw a cover for Rocky Relationships! It can have whatever you want. Just make sure it includes something that has to do with Rocky Relationships, and the words "Rocky Relationships" on it somewhere in big lettering. **

**Please do this for me. **

**Thanks.**

**I've been making a play list thing, for some of the Rocky Relationships characters. So far I've only come up with Sora's:**

_**Livin Lavida Loca**_** by ****Ricky Martin**** (Sora to Kairi). Listen to the song; it's how Sora thinks of Kairi before all their troubles started. It's an old "party" kind of song…Of course there's more:**

**Snow White Queen by Evanescence (Xemnas to Larxene), it talks about how Xemnas likes Larxene in a stalker kind of way, and how afraid of him she is. That's all the ones I have right now. I'll do more when Livid Love is done. **

**I also have a new story idea. Okay, it goes like this:**

**Zoo York:**** What happens when Roxas is a singer in a New York band, and when Namine is a shy small town girl just looking for excitement? Well, my latest story of course. Basically, Roxas forms a band with Riku and Sora, and their manager just happens to be Axel under the Thirteenth Record Label (this is AU by the way). Namine comes to New York in the hopes of starting a fresh and exciting life. She meets up with Kairi, who attends all the shows of "Kingdom Hearts" the band consisting of, you guessed it, Sora, Riku and Roxas. Namine and Roxas hit it off, and Kairi tries to show Sora her moves. But there are problems on the horizon…**

**Yeah, I thought of it on the way to the Airport. I think it's a pretty great idea, but you tell me. This is one of those chapters that you HAVE TO review for.**

**Oh, and there's even MORE ideas that are flowing through my mind!**

**Growing up:**** Sora, Riku and Kairi have returned from their grand adventure, with tons of stories to tell. Wakka and Selphie are amazed, but Tidus is jealous. He wants to have an adventure, and when he meets a mysterious woman on the beach, me makes a deal to exchange his soul for an adventure. So, Tidus finds himself in Hollow bastion, with a strange sword and no sense of direction. Then he meets the elusive fairy, Yuna, who has the secret dream to become life sized. So Tidus searches for a way to give Yuna a full sized body; while dodging the soul-stealing witch who started this adventure. Tidus-centric non-AU; takes place a couple months after the events of KH 2. **

**And here's a Harry Potter idea I'm having:**

**Vengeance:**** Draco killed Ron, Hermione wants revenge, and she'll kill to get it. With her sanity slowly seeping away, Draco must dodge a murderous witch bent on revenge, the Ministry of Magic, and angry Death Eaters. How will he survive? And what about the strange love he's feeling for a particular pursuer? Draco/Hermione fic, four years after HPDH. **

**Thank you all! Until next time! (Fades into the sunset, never to be seen again). **


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